Eustis Estate
Asphyxiation
Kevin Duffy
My intent in making this sculpture was to focus on asphyxiation and how in its many forms it has prevailed throughout the span of the pandemic. The most obvious was the murder of George Floyd, but also the ravages of COVID-19, in which deprivation of oxygen has been a primary factor in the deaths of millions worldwide. There is the metaphorical asphyxiation so many have felt in their daily lives because of restrictions imposed during the pandemic. Quarantining and having to wear masks in public, if even for the benefit of self and others, can be the cause a non-fatal form of asphyxiation. Yet another form of asphyxiation can be caused by a dysfunctional government through its denial and politicization of a pandemic, a situation that seemingly allowed an almost sociological, self-induced, form of asphyxiation to evolve. The latter possibly resulted in many more people both contracting and dying from COVID-19 than there would have been had we had a more stable and unified approach to containing and controlling outbreaks.