Lockdown 2020: A Fable - new artist's book

Lockdown 2020: A Fable was created as a response to the unfolding Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that millions of people around the world went through in the spring of 2020.

It depicts twelve pencilled illustrations of life in lockdown and twelve corresponding illustrations of a variety of animals in cages and crates.  The book is made up of multiple spines, which allows the pages to be flipped easily from hand to hand.

In the early days of the first lockdown, I did a little research into the likely origins of the coronavirus and found myself looking through articles and videos full of images of animals in wet markets. 

The thought crossed my mind that there was a kind of grim irony to this catastrophe: if it was true that this new virus had originated from an ill animal, confined in its small cage indefinitely with no freedom, then wasn't there a kind of poetic justice that we were now the species confined to our homes indefinitely, with no freedom and an uncertain fate?

The tables had turned, and our treatment and exploitation of nature and its wildlife had come back to harm us.

Two limited edition versions and one unlimited edition paperback booklet have been created, all of them featuring the same pencilled illustrations. 

 

Lockdown 2020: A Fable Original Size (left) and Miniature (right)

 

Lockdown 2020: A Fable - unlimited edition

For me this artwork will always be about the unprecedented events of Spring 2020 and how, to some extent, this disaster was quite possibly a product of our own making.  It’s my hope that people can view this artwork and take from it whatever message or meaning they choose.

Some may interpret the artwork as being an example of karma, or perhaps see the juxtaposition of scenes from lockdown and caged animals as a metaphor.

Others may see something entirely different. 

Writing this now in 2024, there is still no universal consensus as to where and how the virus originated. It’s possible we may never find out. But perhaps in time and with more evidence, we will know for definite what happened that caused this worldwide human disaster and will learn how best to avert another one. 

Copies of the books are available in my online shop at
https://joannarobsonillustration.bigcartel.com/

 

A long work in progress:

This book took quite a while to design and illustrate and was held up frequently by things along the way.  I'm pleased with the final look and feel of the book, even though it took over four years to finish!

Below are some milestones that it passed along the way as it neared completion. 

(More behind-the-scenes pictures and footage from this project are available at https://www.instagram.com/p/DDPMES3IWuP/)