Coping with COVID-19

“I am fascinated by plague doctors — how they wore these bird-like masks, with herbs in the beak to help them breathe and protect them from illness,” wrote Adrienne Brown in a statement to accompany the above image. Working with Fred Sebastian of the Illustration and Concept Art Program at Algonquin College, we tasked students to create an image that spoke to the theme of student life amid COVID-19. While there were many beautiful and original submissions, Brown’s stood out for us as a unique and layered illustration perfect for publication in Ottawa Magazine.

In imagining a modern-day plague doctor, Brown showed the conflict between the modern creature comforts on which we rely and the seriousness of a global pandemic. To show how some take regulations to the extreme, she protected the slippers, the computer, and even the cat with a face mask. On the computer screen, the doctor is shown to be stockpiling toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and masks, reminding us all of the hoarding associated with lockdown.

“I wanted the design to be playful and funny because it is such a serious matter,” wrote Brown. “Humour is the thing that gets us through the hardest times in our lives. We need to hold on to that as we try to get through this year.”