Created during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic for Sulfur Studios’ Drive-Thru Art exhibition, this work responds to the unique social and political climate of the period, including the concurrent election cycle.

The piece is part of a larger series examining single-use materials and consumer culture, using disposable face masks as a symbol of the era’s emphasis on temporary, consumable objects. Their widespread adoption, brief lifespan, and eventual disposal became defining characteristics of daily life.

In considering the roots of contemporary partisan division, I drew inspiration from the satirical work of Thomas Nast, whose political cartoons established the Democratic donkey and Republican elephant as enduring symbols of American political identity and polarization.

The work also reflects the altered social landscape of the pandemic, when eating and drinking became largely solitary activities conducted outdoors, and the take-out window often served as one of the few remaining points of direct human interaction.