“I’m Not a Virus”
Colored pencil, acrylic paint, black and white ink pen
Ella Kim, @ella.kim_art on Instagram
This piece was originally for a school project about creating statement posters. This piece was very personal to me as an Asian-American for obvious reasons. Racism towards Asian people is so normalized and with the COVID pandemic, it’s only gotten worse. The most important part of this piece for me is the emotions that are captured in the eyes. Making this was extremely personal because of my own experiences with racism, targeted towards me, my family, and other Asians.
By writing on the figure’s face, I wanted to try to show how during the pandemic, Asians were no longer seen as people, but as transmitters for COVID. During the pandemic, innocent Asian people were harassed and attacked both verbally, mentally, and physically, just because of their race because the first case of COVID-19 came from China. The words on the figure’s face are word that I myself, an Asian-American have been called.
I realize that racism towards Asians is not as prominent as it was during the start of the pandemic but I still believe that it’s important to spread the message.
Ella (14) lives in Michigan. To see more of her artwork, visit her instagram page @ella.kim_art
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