Art in Isolation

Artists Respond to the Pandemic

Comic by Christopher Sperandio
Unreal Really!
Christopher Sperandio

Christopher Sperandio is an Associate Professor in the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts. His first solo graphic novel is an anti-neoliberal love story set in an imaginary third Eisenhower Administration. He recently released a monograph on the work of Mexican comic artist Julio Camarena.


Illustration by Elena Lacey
This is Fine.
A Self Isolation Diary

Elena Lacey '13

Elena Lacey ’13 is a San Fancisco-based art director and designer at Wired.


“Basquiat à la Social Isolation.” Clothing and living room. Approximately 7′ x 6′. Class: Beginning Painting with lecturer Josh Bernstein.
“Basquiat à la Social Isolation.” Clothing and living room. Approximately 7′ x 6′. Class: Beginning Painting with lecturer Josh Bernstein.
Basquiat À La Social Isolation
Laura Semro

This was for a re-creation assignment, and I was drawn to a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting because it was as chaotic as everything else I was feeling at the time. My family let me take over our living room for a couple weeks to let me create art with the unconventional materials that ended up being almost my entire wardrobe. While it was a re-creation, using my clothes and that feeling of chaos turned it into a self-portrait, in a way.

Laura Semro ’21 is a rising junior double majoring in art history and studio art.


Photo by Terrence LiuPhoto by Terrence LiuPhoto by Terrence LiuPhoto by Terrence LiuPhoto by Terrence Liu
Paradise of the Lost
Terrence Liu

“Paradise of the Lost.” Digital photographs. Dimensions variable. Class: Visual and Dramatic Arts 2020 Senior Studio.

Terrence Liu ’20 is a Seattle-based software engineer at Facebook.


“A Silver Lining in Step With Time.” Digital collage with watercolor and pencil. Class: Beginning Painting with Associate Professor Natasha Bowdoin.
“A Silver Lining in Step With Time.” Digital collage with watercolor and pencil. Class: Beginning Painting with Associate Professor Natasha Bowdoin.
A Silver Lining in Step With Time
Lorelei Dearing '22

Lorelei Dearing ’22 is from Houston, Texas. Lorelei was a graduate from North Shore Senior High and is now a rising Junior at Brown College. She is a Civil and Environmental Engineering Major with a passion in visual arts. 


“Virus Body.” Installation on wall. Various materials. 72″ x 100″. Class: Visual and Dramatic Arts 2020 Senior Studio.
“Virus Body.” Installation on wall. Various materials. 72″ x 100″. Class: Visual and Dramatic Arts 2020 Senior Studio.
Virus Body
Zengh (Moham) Wang '20

This work is a visualization of my dreams during the pandemic period. The installation demonstrates the nature of chaotic dreams while maintaining a sense of balance and connection amidst all the fractures. As a whole, the work is a human body whose “skin,” the canvas paper, is penetrated and connected simultaneously by electronic wires resembling blood vessels. The balloons arranged in different ways are various human organs and infesting viruses occupying the body. The outermost parts are gestural drawings inspired by the overview of the neighborhood where my parents are living through the pandemic in Wuhan, China. It is also one of the locations that has suffered the greatest casualties and longest quarantine during the tragedy. By piecing together broken imageries that have deeply impacted me both in dreams and reality, I make a personal statement about the pandemic that has now connected every individual of our global village.

LA-based artist Zengh (Moham) Wang ’20 is currently working on his MFA at CalArts.


Leaves by Eduartdo Martinez
Taken Leaves
Eduardo Martinez

Walking through my Houston neighborhood, I feel comforted and inspired by nature’s enduring cycle.

Eduardo Martinez is an artist and graphic designer at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business.

Body