For this piece, I decided to really step out of my comfort zone. As I was creating it, I went in with an idea in mind, and let the piece guide me into what it ended up being. The wintergreen oil photo transfers were done because this is a technique I have been working on for a couple months. After applying it to the piece, it felt like it needed more to truly capture the essence of what this past year has been like because of Covid. The acrylic paint was added to provide bold colors and to add the blurred confusion of time that seems to have happened over the last year. Adding the readymade objects such as the glove and mask is to show what the norm in society has changed too. As for the title of the piece: PANdemIC, this last year has been extremely challenging and has caused several waves of panic over the course of time. I felt it was only fit to create a piece with a lot going on to represent the panic this pandemic has caused.
Erica Reyes, reflecting on PANdemIC
Erica Reyes is a BFA Art Therapy major at Millikin University. Art became a big part of her life, as it provided her an outlet to express emotions that are rather hard to talk about. She tries to project emotions onto her audience through her artwork. All of this led her to pursue a career in art therapy, as she would love to be able to work with people who can also use art as an outlet to release emotions.
Portage Magazine 