COVID-19 Memorial artwork

Overview

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way in which the NHS delivered health and care services to our communities. With an estimated 25 million UK cases to date, this severe acute respiratory syndrome was responsible for 232,112 deaths.

In March 2020, the government introduced lockdown measures for our communities, and was not lifted again until May – replaced with new restrictions.

The COVID pandemic led to the largest fall in life expectancy in England since records began in 1981. The impact of the pandemic on the country’s healthcare system has led to increased waiting lists and a huge pressure on the NHS.

However, the pandemic impacted more than just our hospital and community settings. It changed lives forever, the way in which we deliver health and care services and our relationships with our wider communities.

Local schools and colleges were approached

To mark this moment in time, in April 2024 before the official formation of our visual arts council, an art brief was sent out and local schools and colleges were approached to ensure we could sensitively and respectfully commemorate the pandemic with an impactful piece of art.

Stockton Sixth Form College students’ submission was successfully chosen in December 2024 following the live brief, which saw stiff competition.

More about each piece

Nikita Chenjerai

For my composition I have created a piece that represents a news report during COVID-19 and how dependent people were on the NHS during the difficult time.

It also shows the distance that was put between loved ones during the pandemic, as people were only able to communicate through screens.

Daisy Bell

My idea for the COVID-19 memorial piece was to show how people would queue up for ages for their covid jabs, whilst also including a meaningful and heartfelt message.

I added text to show my support for the hard work the NHS do and everything they did during the pandemic. I painted the covid needles in a way that look as if they are queueing, to represent the many lines we formed during the pandemic.

Finn Clarvis

My idea was to create a piece of artwork that demonstrated the silence of everyday life during COVID-19 times, in stark contrast to the busy hospitals that were overwhelmed with work. This is to emphasise that everyone had a different experience during this difficult time.

However, we all stuck together even if it was in a metaphorical sense. I have used the imagery of an empty corridor to symbolise isolation, and symbols that might represent the hospital or first aid to represent the workload of frontline workers.

Lucinda Fox

Initially I began to play around with the idea of showing life during COVID-19 versus now (after the pandemic). To show this I used the imagery of a mirror. On one side of the mirror would be a representation of life now and in the reflection would be the memory of life during covid.

I created the painting of a woman putting on lipstick in the mirror and in her reflection, she sees herself from during the pandemic doing a COVID-19 test. I made her reflection a sickly green colour to carry the message of illness, bleakness and the emotions both she and society would all have felt at the time.

The inclusion of the haiku is a literal form of narration showing what is occurring. The haiku has been ‘mirrored’ at the bottom of my canvas to further play with the idea of reflection. By showing this overall image of ‘now versus then’, I am hoping to inspire a feeling of hope from the viewer. An assurance that things get better no matter how much it may appear they will not.

Lily Kennedy

For my piece I focused on the ideas of being alone, separated and how the pandemic came to affect everyone globally because at first, the lockdown was probably great for most people. But, as it became longer and time went on more people began to suffer with severe loneliness. For some this turned to depression, as being alone is one of the hardest things, especially during a crisis when all you need is something as simple as a hug.

For my composition on the canvas I painted a variety of bubbles, with one central bubble being the focus. In this central bubble, I painted a silhouette to represent being alone and how everyone was put into ‘isolation bubbles’. In two others I painted a mask and a world, to represent how masks had become normalised for people to wear for safety as everyone came to be affected by the global virus.

I also featured multiple words relating to COVID-19 layered on top of one another to symbolise the confusion people had to endure. My haiku was also quite personal to me because I like my alone time just like other people – but for that extended amount of time without physical touch or connection with other family members was tough.

Divine Mesole

I created a painting that symbolises unity during the COVID-19 pandemic. I used a rainbow umbrella to represent hope and protection, showing how we can come together to keep each other safe.

I highlighted the essential role of the NHS, acknowledging healthcare workers’ dedication during the pandemic. I included the phrase, “Let the battles of yesterday remind us that we can win the battles of tomorrow,” to inspire hope and a thought of our past struggles while looking forward to a brighter future.

Maisy Thomas

My bubble is a composition of a COVID-19 mask wrapped around the world, with a message that relates to how the NHS is the protection of our country “in the heart of the storm, amidst the chaos of COVID-19 stood the nurses selfless heroes.”

I got this idea from thinking about our country throughout the rough time of the pandemic and the pressure that the NHS would be feeling working to save the population. When looking at my composition, I almost want the viewer to feel and draw on their memory of the battle our country had and the losses of loved ones, but to also understand that our country as a whole was affected and that everybody as a community was driven to fight this battle.

My fellow classmates and I all created a bubble each, however, they all show different messages. This is significant because everyone’s covid bubble was different. However, we were still all close as a community and our artwork creates a message as a whole, expressing our own thoughts.

Emilia Vaughan

Emilia based her work on the isolation we all felt during lockdown.

The lack of contact we had with our families, and the grief we experienced during that time.

Sophie Wilks

When given the brief I wondered how I would be able to combine the feelings of pain and isolation with those of celebration now that our world has returned to a somewhat similar version of what it used to be.

I tried to convey this message with the use of the covid mask, symbolic of all of the time we spent trapped within one, and the rainbow – which to me, represents all of the time we spent outside. Those evenings that every door on the street would be open with people clapping their hands, or banging pots and pans together, in honour of the NHS who supported us all through the pandemic.

As a class, we each created our own ‘bubble’ – inspired by what the government would call the tiny social circle we were allowed during each lockdown. They all carry unique meaning, as each piece conveys how we as individuals perceived the COVID-19 pandemic as a whole – they summarise our experiences and our emotions (both good and bad).

I hope that my own piece attracts the audience’s attention, firstly to the rainbow as to me that represents the hope and optimism that we all had during this difficult time, and then to the covid mask and the text, as they’re both representative of the troubles we faced as a nation. I wanted the piece to convey a mixture of emotions, and I believe I have achieved that through my use of colour and the multiple different shades of each that I had to create to show tone and dimension within the composition. For the centre of the piece, I wanted to use the NHS logo as a way of thanking them for their hard work and honouring them in an appropriate and considerate way.