美国国家公共电台 NPR--An art exhibit on the National Mall honors health care workers who died of COVID

An art exhibit on the National Mall honors health care workers who died of COVID

Transcript¹

Susannah Perlman remembers her mother Marla's smile, a big, beaming smile that covered "a couple of ZIP codes."

Marla died from COVID-19 last year. She was retired² and had served as director of volunteers at a hospital in Pennsylvania.

As part of the Hero Art Project, emerging and established artists from around the world have now eternalized the smiles of more than 100 other U.S.-based first responders and health care workers killed by a pandemic they tried to stave off.

NPR caught up with Perlman on the National Mall, where the portraits rotate through digital flat screens in an energy-efficient "tiny home" in the shadow of the Washington Monument and the Capitol building. There are paintings, drawings and digital pieces, some multicolored, others monochrome.

"Here we are, on the National Mall, where you have tons of memorials, and this was a war in its own way, but it hit us in in a different way that we weren't expecting," said Perlman, who founded the digital art gallery ARTHOUSE.NYC behind the commissions. "So here is a monument to these individuals who gave their lives, who went to work despite the risks and ultimately paid the ultimate price."

Next to the gallery, visitors stop by a hospitality tent to participate in art therapy projects, such as making origami butterflies — a nod to a Filipino tradition that sees butterflies as a representation of the spirits of the deceased. They can also contribute to a living memorial made up of clouds bearing the names of deceased health care workers, which are then added to the back wall of the house.

Several of the portraits are of Filipino workers, to recognize the significant population of Filipino nurses in the U.S. There are also health workers from India, South America and Europe.

For her digital work representing Washington nurse Noel Sinkiat, artist Lynne St. Clare Foster animated³ Sinkiat's short and the background.

Illustrated⁴ portrait of a man with a bold sweater and animated colors

"Noel Sinikiat" by Lynne St. Clare Foster

Credit: Lynne St. Clare Foster

"It makes it feel like he's alive," St. Clare Foster explained. "What I wanted to do is incorporate not just the portrait, just the head ... I try to bring in bits and pieces of their their world, their life, their culture."

Because of the timing⁵ of many of these workers' deaths, at the height of the pandemic, their families "weren't allowed to mourn the way people normally mourn," she added, seeing in the portraits another way of honoring the dead.

In another portrait, of Indian-born Aleyamma John, the artist depicts⁶ rays shooting out from the nurse's head.

Illustration of a nurse with jewel-tone colors animating⁷ in the background

"Isabelle Papadimitriou" by Lynne St. Clare Foster

Credit: Lynne St. Clare Foster

"She's almost like an angel," St. Clare Foster said.

Perlman launched the project after realizing that many of those killed by the pandemic were "just being lost and forgotten; they were just a number." These commissions, she says, puts faces to the names.

"We'd rarely see these human beings as human lives that were behind these numbers, which I found more heartbreaking than anything else that I can just think of," she said. "This person had a life, they had history, they had families, they had roots ... It's more of a personal touch than the statistics."

The prefabricated house bears Marla's name, but her portrait hasn't yet made it in the collection because Perlman is still looking for ways to replicate⁸ her mother's "wonderful expression." The house, she says, "emulates⁹ who she was, a beauty, elegance¹⁰. She would love the natural light."

After the Washington, D.C., show closes on Nov. 28, the mobile home has stops planned for Miami, Texas, Georgia, the West Coast and New England.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

4 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

5 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

6 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

7 animating   

v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命

参考例句：

• Nature has her animating spirit as well as man who is nature's child. 大自然就象它的孩子――人类一样，有活生生的灵魂。 来自辞典例句
• They were doubtlessly the animating principle of many hours that superficially seemed vacant. 在表面看来无所事事的许多时刻中，它们无疑是活跃的因素。 来自辞典例句

8 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

9 emulates   

v.与…竞争( emulate的第三人称单数 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿

参考例句：

• A device or computer program that emulates. 一种可以进行仿真的设备或计算机程序。 来自辞典例句
• Sleep Timer Emulates the time found in most TVs. 睡眠计时器模拟时发现，大多数电视。 来自互联网

10 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。