A story told in the panels of a door, Chris Wallace’s approach to reimagining this vintage door called on the experience we all lived through together: an unprecedented response to an unprecedented situation. A pandemic that washed the world over in fear, sickness, and death darkened the world for too many of us, and left us wondering where we go from here.
The figurative and literal opening of doors inspired this piece, retelling the shared life experience of seemingly-endless quarantines and business closures, to the daily precautions we all took to support each other, and finally our triumphant reopenings. Wallace says he is “inspired by the historical doors, which are tangible symbols of resilience and determination to survive.”
While Wallace says the door (#13) has no official name, each panel has a name, read from bottom to top: Closed, Mask Up, Healing, Happy Group, and Now Open. But, says Wallace, “The more I did it, the more I realized the healing part was really a game-changer.” Wallace also points out a subtle message in the vines growing up the length of the door. “That’s a symbol of growth. That we’re going to grow through this and everything’s going to be just fine.”
