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Artist Name: Wesley Huang
Title: Masked
Medium: Digital animation
Size/Dimension: 22 seconds
Year: 2020
Artist Statement:
This piece visualizes the number of deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic. Each mask represents a life we lost, and a broken family in different scale. Images and motion created stronger connection than individual numbers. Visual observation and experience in the field are important to help better understand an event, an object, or information. While essential workers are usually wearing a full set of PPE’s, the mask is more related to people; it is a form of protection. When a person is wearing a mask, we can only see people’s eyes; it is the object connected with infection diseases. Concentrating too closely on one thing can blind us to what is around it, like piles of disposed masks, used gloves, empty hand sanitizer bottles, delivery packaging for different purposes.