Sign(s) Of The Times, 2022 To ? by Shelley Cowper

Medium: Woodcut, Linocut, Paper masks
Size: 900 x 1220

Masks will be forever associated with the current pandemic. Will we ever be able to let them go, or will some of us hang in there long after they have passed their use by date? Will there be ongoing struggles with various importunate and mutating viruses?

Over the past couple of years, the mask has acquired a semiotic importance as a symbol of our current experience, an emblem for confinement and loss of freedom. My artwork records this disruptive time. Restriction of the colour palette alludes to containment, while the relief print patterns on the masks represent the individuality of the wearers.