Room 759. Oil on canvas on aluminum composite panel. 18 by 33 inches unframed, 22 by 37 inches framed. Completed December 2021.
Room 759 is part of a series examining the subconscious responses to the pandemic. It was started in November of 2021, when the United States death toll from the virus stood at 759,000. Hence the title. The painting was prompted by story after story of sudden, unexpected loss of a loved one. It seemed like every loss from the virus was that way. Sudden, wrenching, and repeated 759,000 times.
There is a statement attributed to Josef Stalin: One human death is a tragedy. A million is a statistic. Room 759 attempts to capture the oneness of the pandemic. The oneness repeated 759,000 times.