Many artists have taken some kind of inspiration from the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, whether that manifests itself in ways that are subtle, dramatic, uplifting or grief-inducing.
Last year on The Show, we introduced you to Jen Urso. As so many people were experiencing the deaths of friends and relatives from COVID-19, she was having to deal with her last days with her beloved sister, who was dying of cancer.
Those experiences led her to create "Remarkable Presence," a project that combines obituaries with pop-up paper suitcases. The work is now on display at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, where The Show recently met with Urso.
Urso talked about the nature of grief and whether it’s possible to suppress those feelings — even when something as dramatic as an extended illness or a worldwide pandemic is taking place.