I am an artist and an art therapist in Portland, OR.
Life is constantly in flux - emotions dissipate, thoughts scatter, identities shift. A piece of art is a mark of many influences coming together at one specific point in time (What did I eat for breakfast? What's happening in the world around me? How do I feel in my body today? Was the color I wanted available?....).
Pre-CoVid, I was working on larger scale, organic, inky pieces (3’ – 6’): fluidity, movement, spontaneity. During CoVid, I worked much smaller, in pencil, on portraits of emergency department colleagues in their PPE: up close, focused, contained. Each type of artwork is equally an attempt to connect my own experience with the outside world. They are just two very different moments in time, both internally and externally.
Statement
In the last 3 years, our daily lives have been deeply changed by CoVid. Many of us have gained new perspectives on our bottom line--the essential people and rhythms that are necessary to sustain. Grief and clarity exist simultaneously.
I was a mental health therapist working in an emergency department in when CoVid hit. I typically make landscapes and abstract paintings, but in March 2020, I began taking photos of my coworkers in their new PPE and painting/drawing their portraits. Creating the portraits is a way for me to honor my coworkers and the daily risks they take for others (not just in a pandemic), to reflect the humanity under all those layers, and to help the public connect with eyes full of fatigue, trepidation, kindness, and vulnerability.
If you would like to commission a portrait for a frontline healthcare worker, or if you would like to honor your own pandemic experience (What did you lose? What did you find?), please message me. I would be honored.
Copyright © 2022 Amy Ponteri. All rights reserved.
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