SEATTLE — Seattle artist Jayashree Krishnan's Seattle studio is filled with beautiful landscapes and portraits. She has an ability to capture human emotion in her portrait work.
After the coronavirus pandemic, her work took an unexpected turn. Last May, Krishnan decided to switch to painting portraits of family members and a few friends in the medical industry — healthcare workers who were battling the pandemic day in and day out.
Her portraits quickly attracted attention online and her portrait work became a full-time effort.
Doctors, nurses and the cleaning staff have been immortalized in an ever-expanding collection. Many of the faces are local and work at various Puget Sound area hospitals. Others were made for healthcare workers in other states and throughout the world.
It's now a collection that's grown to more than 150 portraits. She says a few are perhaps more special to her because they feaure medical workers who lost their lives fighting COVID-19.
Many of the portraits are on display at the Columbia City Gallery in Seattle, but not all of them. Some of the healthcare workers received their own portraits. Local hospitals also have put Krishnan's work on display.
You may even spot a famous doctor in the collection. Krishnan painted top White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci a few months ago. She recently got the invitation to send that portrait to him.
It’s a tremendous effort of service that Krishnan says is the most important work she’s ever done.
“Just being seen is so powerful to these healthcare workers and if my work can have that effect on people I must keep going,” she said.
The entire “Caring For Humanity” collection is currently on display at the Columbia City Gallery and runs through March 21. The Gallery is open to the public Friday through Sunday noon to 5 p.m. and you can also admire most of the collection outdoors from the street side gallery window.
