mixed media, collage

“I was inspired by the SOS Art Retrospective artworks because they all showed a variety of topics. Each artwork included multiple views and focuses on multiple pieces in the project. This inspired me to create a work that had more than one thing going on and to have it tell a story. Through this process I learned the devastation that unemployment can cause. I learned how many people and families this has affected, especially this past year. I came up with this idea because my dad was one of countless people who lost their job due to the pandemic. I connected with this topic and I had felt the impact that this issue causes. I wanted to include how destructive this issue was during 2020 so I decided to include a sort of line graph in the background created from a red wire. This showed the spike in unemployment during 2020. I also wanted to show how many people this impacted and how it could destroy lives. This is why I decided to create a grim reaper who was the stealer of jobs. Losing a job can come close to dying because it can cause people’s lives to go off the rails. I also wanted to portray how the pandemic was a huge factor of the unemployment rate spiking, so I chose to include an image of a dark storefront saying that it had closed because of the coronavirus. Finally, I wanted to include a sort of door to heaven that was labeled ‘jobs’, with a line that never ends. This was to show that so many people were out of work and getting a job is like a savior and could save them and their lives. Through this artwork I wanted to display the message that unemployment is an overlooked issue and affects millions of people. It can destroy lives to the point that it could be compared to death, and that the pandemic has made this issue even larger, hurting so many American families and people.”