When I started The Covid 19 Portrait Project in June 2020, approximately 1270 people had perished in Philadelphia county from the coronavirus. I never knew these people, but spending time with them, in silence, at my easel, with the light traces captured by the camera, I often feel I am not so much looking at them, but into them, thinking about who they were, what their lives were like; how America failed them. They look back at me and asked: “Why?” Their faces, their spirits, are burned into my memory.

Source photographs are gathered from public sources on the web or sent to the artist by family members. Additionally, approximately 20 other artists submitted portraits that were included in a main space exhibition in February 2022 at In Liquid in Philadelphia. Click Here to see the virtual exhibition at Amie Potsic Art Advisory.