Jahnke, Lauren R.

"Description of Art Piece “Coronavirus 2020” by Lauren R. Jahnke [Acrylic paints and collage of newspaper articles and headlines on 12”x12” cardboard] I made this art piece in April 2020 from newspaper articles and headlines cut out from the Austin American-Statesman in March and April 2020, when it was getting overwhelming and surreal to see practically every newspaper article talking about some aspect of the coronavirus pandemic and the unprecedented response to it. I started seeing patterns and repeated words, and felt I needed to cut out some of the text to save for posterity. (The large file size of the two photos allows viewers to zoom in to read the text on the front and back of the piece.) I also kept seeing graphics of the virus itself, so wanted to paint stylized versions of the virus on top of the headlines. As an artist as well as a health policy researcher/writer, this piece ties together my interests and helped me to think about things in perspective while keeping my hands busy while home-bound. At this writing in May 2020, the pandemic still dominates the news and will for the foreseeable future, but things are starting to feel more normal in some ways, with fewer lines and shortages at the grocery stores for example, and as people learn to adapt. Despite this, we still have a long way to go in areas such as understanding more about COVID-19, developing effective treatments and vaccines, helping the unemployed and the economy, and healing the exposed political divides."

Mixed media art created by Lauren Jahnke and inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic. "Description of Art Piece “Coronavirus 2020” by Lauren R. Jahnke [Acrylic paints and collage of newspaper articles and headlines on 12”x12” cardboard] I made this art piece in April 2020 from newspaper articles and headlines cut out from the Austin American-Statesman in March and April 2020, when it was getting overwhelming and surreal to see practically every newspaper article talking about some aspect of the coronavirus pandemic and the unprecedented response to it. I started seeing patterns and repeated words, and felt I needed to cut out some of the text to save for posterity. (The large file size of the two photos allows viewers to zoom in to read the text on the front and back of the piece.) I also kept seeing graphics of the virus itself, so wanted to paint stylized versions of the virus on top of the headlines. As an artist as well as a health policy researcher/writer, this piece ties together my interests and helped me to think about things in perspective while keeping my hands busy while home-bound. At this writing in May 2020, the pandemic still dominates the news and will for the foreseeable future, but things are starting to feel more normal in some ways, with fewer lines and shortages at the grocery stores for example, and as people learn to adapt. Despite this, we still have a long way to go in areas such as understanding more about COVID-19, developing effective treatments and vaccines, helping the unemployed and the economy, and healing the exposed political divides."

View of the back of collage artwork created by Lauren Jahnke and inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.