DEATH MASKS

You can’t see what I say. It’s like death.

We both wear masks.

I am stone-silent. You are stone-blind.

I am echo and you are narcissus.

Based on Echo and Narcissus myth, these self-portraits depict the strain of lack of communication and the incapacity to be seen/heard.

Vowels become synonymous to gasping for air in the confused environment of self-isolation and self-protection. The poem that accompanies this series of self-portraits of the artist pronouncing each vowel, is a representation of the human essential need to be heard and seen.

Death Masks was part of the exhibition “Unique Minds: Creative Voices” curated by artist Chanika Svetvilas at Lewis Center for the Arts. For Princeton University’s Graduate Student Government’s Mental Health Initiative, from November 1 to 12, 2021.

March 1st, 2020.

I wash my hands | works created during the pandemic

As the month of March 2020 begins, the containment of the Coronavirus becomes more improbable. Many citizens throughout the world fear they are being misinformed about the scope of the outbreak of this disease. As the escalation of cases have been undergoing for weeks, governments instructed the public to protect themselves by frequently washing their hands.

Citizens trying to take responsibility for their wellbeing are doing so: “I wash my hands” gives each individual a sense of protection and permission to still interact and engage in society. “I wash my hands”, may I come in?

Meanwhile, as the inadequacy of governments’ first response to this health crisis becomes more obvious, and as the unpreparedness of nations to handle an epidemic is being revealed, “I wash my hands” also represents the governmental claims that everything possible has been done to protect world citizens - I therefore, “wash my hands”.

Governmental decisions currently underway giving priority to economic security over population safety, may one day unveil how impunity doesn’t mean immunity.

This work’s premise mimics the campaign “Duck and Cover” promoted by the Federal Civil Defense Administration agency of the United States Government during the Cold War and heightened during the “Cuban missile crisis” in the 1960s. I am recalling the collective memory of a previous attempt to sanitize and minimize impending dangers, when the population was given a false sense of security by authorities which only intended to safeguard complacency among citizens.

Various interventions and imagery involving this theme will be explored in this ongoing project. 

#iwashmyhands

March 3rd, 2020.

20 Seconds

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is responsible for the health security of the United States of America. On their online campaign to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) the CDC offered hand-washing instructions as one of their guidelines to protect civilians from contracting the virus.

Using a text to speech app I generated an automatic recording of the “Happy Birthday” lyrics in the appropriate speed to reach the suggested lenghth of time for human disinfection according to their instructions.

This song is now appropriated for a new purpose; Although this is a communal song to be pronounced in unison in celebration of someone’s birth - it is now used as prevention against a virus, to be used in isolation during the private ritual of hand-washing. A stark reminder of the societal changes needed to be implemented during an outbreak, when human gatherings are unadvised in hopes of containment of the proliferation of a disease.

April 7th, 2020.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 118

On April 7th, 2020, State Parks and Forests throughout New Jersey were closed to the public until further notice. Executive Order No. 118 took effect at 8PM in an attempt to further discourage public interactions and gatherings during the pandemic of covid-19. The United States has the most cases of infections in the world and New Jersey is only second to New York in the number of cases of the virus.

These images were taken at the last hour that access to Drexel Woods was accessible to the residents of Lawrenceville, NJ.

As it awaits for us, may the resilience of this forest stay with us.

March 5th, 2020.

UNTESTED

As of March 4, 2020 1,526 patients had been tested at CDC for Coronavirus. In 2018, the estimated population of the United States is 327.2 million people.

Reference: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the U.S. (2020, March 3). Retrieved March 5, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-in-us.html

Jennifer Cabral. Untested. (2020) Video Recording.

March 23rd, 2020.

MEMBRANES

The coronavirus is thought to spread from person-to-person mainly among those who are in close contact with one another within 6 feet. This negative space where no interaction is permitted is here represented as circumferences over a series of family photos and everyday objects.

As an immune-deficient individual, I am impeded of having contact with my family, separated by state mandates of no travel, and the fear of mutual contamination. The 6FT social Distancing becomes almost a solace: “even if we were together, we would be apart”.

An invisible sphere separates within from without. Like A cell membrane. It is a permeable space where a lack of trust of our immediate surroundings - “is it contaminated?” - is alternated with the fear of that which is beyond our immediate circle.

Household spaces, surfaces and objects become possible vectors. I PHOTOGRAPHED My IMMEDIATE environment which was once comforting and familiar and now became a foreign body. The circles serve as warnings when over objects within my reach, while when over photographs I’ve taken over the years of my family becomes an evocation for protection.

These spheres are reminders of the cellular connection between all matter and a symbolic shield of immunity, a sort of geometric spell so nothing penetrates our membranes.

#iwashmyhands

How the series “I wash my hands” started?

For weeks I had been following the events in Wuhan, China. I was in shock of the disregard of the outside world to the events that were taking place in December 2019, January and still happening in February 2020. It wasn’t going away, but spreading. I had no expertise to justify my alarm. I am no doctor, politician or prophet. I was just a human being concerned with individuals on the other side of those walls, thousands of walls, trapped inside. The death toil seemed to go hand in hand with the infringement of human rights. Basic rights.

I wanted for those around me to consider: what if that was us? What would you do? As time passed I was left with the only role I know how to play: myself. And I presented myself as someone frightened, worried and vulnerable. I would approach those around me and say: “I am really concerned. I am scared. I don’t want to get sick.” But what I didn’t tell them is that I was really concerned and scared for them, not for myself. I don’t want to get sick but I also refuse to be immune to the suffering of others.

Yes. As someone with immunodeficiency - normal post a cancer treatment, I am physically vulnerable. But mentally and emotionally I am prepared to let go of my normal life - because I once had to walk away and leave everything I knew behind. Could you do that? I hope you can.

I am sorry it is in such an abrupt and chocking way, but we all have to let go of normalcy, accommodation and convenience. And we have to step into a space and time where all that is left is what matters. What really matters to each one us. I just hope we will consider each other, each fellow human being, as the most precious thing we‘ll ever have. I wash my hands. But never of what may happen to you.

~ Jennifer Cabral