V I R A L   D R A W I N G S

BC (Before Corona) / QT / AV :

Language As Visual Transmission

Since long Before Corona — the years B.C. — I have been captivated by the forms of writing. How can a few systematically knotted lines evoke so many kinds and layers of meaning? So, I have often experimented with ways to highlight the visual patterns of letters, both handwritten and printed. In one series (left), I’ve layered my lines of writing until they become an infestation of scrawl; this strategy formed the basis for the current project. In another series (right), I've connected the dots of punctuation at the ends of paragraphs to articulate an underlying shape in the page. In both cases, text can be seen afresh, as the abstract drawing that it actually is.


It was as if I had been preparing for the moment when language would fail.


In March 2020, as the novel coronavirus spread around the world, the internet was riddled with representations of the intensely red organism that was, we thought then, potentially endangering human survival. Viewing these images short-circuited the ability to think, just as the virus itself threw all activity off-course.

Corona was sending everything reeling.