Esmeralda, Zoe, Paul, and Valeria With Oliver and Raisin

Esmeralda: “I am a visual artist; in this pandemic time I have created much more art, I have cooked, baked almost daily, I have helped sew masks. Helping my Zoe with school tasks made me go back in time 4 and a half years because I was a teacher in Mexico, my country of origin. I am sad my father died yesterday of a heart attack and the medical authorities denied him the health service for fear of the coronavirus. I am frustrated and upset but I turn my gaze to my family and they return love. Paul Martín, my husband, works very hard to beautify our home. He loves us and we love him. He is an excellent photographer for hobbie, he rescues Chihuahuas dogs and he likes turtles.

Valeria loves to play the piano, saxophone, violin, dulcimer and the flute. She likes to live in this country for all the opportunities offered by the educational and social spheres. She misses her friends a lot and loves little Raisin, my husband’s Chihuahua.

Zoé is a beautiful social butterfly. For her it has been very hard to learn at home; for her the best school is at school, with her teachers and her friends. She is very motherly with Oliver, a chihuahua who is waiting for a new home.”

Lexington in the Time of COVID-19 is an artwork about people practicing social distancing at a time of a deadly virus. And also offering kindness.

Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova capture photographs at the periphery of American culture, where drag queens, discarded couches, and abandoned motel signs exist.