tracing COVID-19

Although “safer at home,” I ventured outside to explore my Sawtelle neighborhood each day. The things I saw became my drawings: flowers blooming in likely and unlikely places; animal life, wild and domestic; the detritus of the pandemic; businesses open or, sadly, shuttered. I became familiar with neighborhood cats, watched flowers go through their cycles of blooming, noticed art on sidewalks and parking strips.

116 pages

Constantly looking at flowers and plants led me to consider the fauna in my neighborhood, which boasts a large squirrel population. Through research I discovered that Sawtelle is ground zero for Eastern Fox Squirrels in Los Angeles. Digging deeper and deeper into squirrel data, I drew charts and diagrams to convey information. I interwove squirrel stories with maps of Sawtelle. I soon slid down a rabbit hole with the squirrels.

108 pages

One day in July 2020, I saw a traffic post and two traffic cones standing on a corner as if they were waiting to cross the street. I began to see Cone and Post clans all over the neighborhood, engaged in various activities. Individual cones and posts quickly took on personalities as they went about their business, and their stories simply had to be told.

96 pages