Janice Stevens Botsford
Lockdown
“Art disturbs the comfortable, and comforts the disturbed……”
I was very moved upon hearing a recent radio interview with a man who is a “lifer”, incarcerated in Michigan during this time of our own sequestering for safety due to the pandemic. Becoming aware of the overcrowded living conditions in prison, the inevitable likelihood of large numbers of inmates contracting COVID-19, and their very real fear of dying from this horrible disease was immensely disturbing. Are all of us responsible for allowing the massive spread in that setting? How can people in that setting adapt? And on which side of the fence are we, sequestered too, as we try to deal with the pandemic and its irreversible consequences? Even apart, we should support each other in whatever way we can.
This mixed media piece is an attempt to challenge the viewer to contemplate these issues.