'Newborn and Child' mask. 
Acknowledges our children’s experience during the early days of COVID. 

For many children during the early part of the pandemic, life took on a surreal shift. A childs experience became schoolwork at the kitchen table, yellow tape around the playgrounds, faces in masks and measuring distances between each other. We do this for our elders and those who can’t fight off the virus. 
During 2020 our family welcomed the arrival of a new baby. I had looked forward to attending this birth, as I have others in the family. Unfortunalty during COVID, hospitals limit visitors, so despite experience as birth coach and a strong desire to be there with my daughter, I was unable to attend. I sympathize with how awful it must have been for those millions of people who were unable to be with their loved ones in the hospital.

The fabric of this piece has been given an antique tea over dye to simulate a mask worn during the 1918 Spanish Influenza. The tiny newborn face mask conveys our experience with children during pandemic. The piece includes pastel medicine wheel colours and yellow mouse tracks, for the children.
Medium: Cotton muslin, baby receiving blanket fabric lining. Decorated with Cree Metis designs in cotton crewel-work embroidery thread and glass beads, filled with a small amount of sweetgrass, for gentle dreams.

Please note*: The contemporary medical community advises not to place masks on small children
.