My work changed with the onset of the pandemic. New words entered our vocabulary, charts and graphs made this news visible. California was on fire, so graphs on air quality determined our days. The curves and colors of these graphs, dictated by the most current data had colors representing “good” and “worse”, with constant reminders to “flatten the curve”.
I  worked on my version of a pandemic painting for over a year, through many changes, as I tried to sort out what was meaningful to myself & humanity. Once I put that 3’ x 3’ acrylic painting aside, I began to paint my own interpretations of color codes & graphs. I kept the curves fluid and unflattened, the colors bright and luminous. I felt an artist’s need to reclaim these colors as beautiful and bright, not co-opted as indicators of fear or relief.
Soon variants, too, entered our lives. Musicians, as well as artists, have historically worked with “variations on a theme”, and this led to my pursuit of floral variants. These started as loose variants of the Fetid Adder’s Tongue, (found locally in January-February, smelling of wet dog/old tennis shoe). This flower bears a structure similar to the universal symbol for biotoxins, so I sought a blend of the two; my variants.