Yifan Luo / MFA Illustration Practice ‘21
Pandemic Purchases
2020
Colored pencils, gouache, digital
Everyday objects are seldom mundane. Items we acquire and keep provide glimpses into moments in time, lived experiences, and personal values and whims. Pandemic Purchases features eight acquisitions made by friends at various points during the eight months of the pandemic thus far. Individuals sought out their own unique sets of objects, ingredients, and companionship to animate their home spaces into havens, offices, classrooms, gyms, and more. Or, sometimes, just to make the jarring transition a little more palatable.
This piece is a cousin to What We Packed (Image Harvest 2019), in which I documented personal belongings that individuals had brought with them when moving to Baltimore—seemingly ordinary items deemed extraordinary. Time will tell if these pandemic purchases, too, will be packed up and brought along on future adventures and moves. Some may be life-changing, while others may be boxed away, remnants of a surreal time wrought with uncertainty, mixed feelings, and good intentions.