In its early days, I didn’t think much of Covid – at least, no more than it was a small scare that most likely wouldn’t develop into anything.

The situation thickened and as the restrictions continued to extend, I began digging myself into a hole of hopelessness, demotivation and laziness, unsure of when life would be normal again. Stress began to ensue as I worried about the completion of my degree, job security and friendships. For a distraction and something fun to do, I tried to learn embroidery. After some time, with little progress made, things started to piece together into a state that gave me some light and finally I found inspiration for my struggling project idea. I decided to combine my embroidery with photography, stitching over the physical image to add a new layer of context representative of my emotions associated with the progression of Covid. As a timeline, the photos display the beginning, peak and easing of my stress, much like the developing nature of the pandemic. The level of emotional reaction is portrayed in the black and white self-portraits, and the colour and pattern of the embroidery is relevant to the self-portrait through colours associated with different emotions.

Stabiliser, 2020
Pigment print
250mm x 200mm