Rage made Beautiful: Covid-19 Data Quilt, 2020-22
Mourning, Testimony, Rage
The Rev. Michelle Bolt began this quilt in early 2020 to record Covid-19 cases and deaths in Knox County, Tennessee where she lives. The color key is shown at the left.
Each square represents a week, with cases color-coded from lowest numbers (pale green) to peaks (deep pink) and deaths from white (no deaths) through shades of gray and black for increasing number of deaths.
Bolt intended to stop when there were three rows of pale green, but as that never happened, the ribbons extending below the edge represent the continued cost of the pandemic.
Artist’s statement:
“As a priest and a mother, I infused this quilt with daily prayers and tears, art emanating from a soul cracked open—from an event that has no foreseeable end.”
Cotton. Made and lent by Michelle Bolt