From the artist: This is a self-portrait I drew after I got into a car accident in November 2020, in which I was the driver at fault. This was one of the few things I did in those initial post-accident days, aside from binge-watching America's Next Top Model and fielding calls from my car insurance company. I think this drawing conveys feelings and experiences many folks (including myself) may have endured as we coped with isolation (and an inability to gather) during the first year or so of the pandemic.

From the artist: This piece was drawn after a situationship in summer 2020 fizzled out, as I felt like a shiny new toy quickly forgotten by a child. We had schemed about eating In-N-Out at the beach back in LA, doing a scary movie marathon date, or about getting an Airbnb for a weekend—but we were 300 miles apart, unable to see each other, and eventually they lost interest. I think the sentiment expressed here is one many folks may have felt, both before and during the pandemic—for dreaming of meet-ups with friends, or of would-have-been relationships, or hugs or holidays or visiting home, and for dreaming of being in the parallel universe where we never experienced this ongoing global pandemic.

Annika Gillam is an artist, nap enthusiast, west coast transplant, and first-year genetic counseling student at Mount Sinai. She has always been a casual artist, but fell in love with ink drawing after focusing on the process instead of the product of art making. She now embraces her sketchy, imperfect art style—a still-developing style she lovingly and satirically calls “ugly art” because of its focus on deliberate imperfection. Aside from drawing, she also enjoys crocheting and painting, and recently began teaching herself how to play guitar.