I am an oil painter who creates elaborately detailed paintings of contemporary vanitas. My newest works consider vanitas in a modern context, reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic. In a traditional sense, vanitas alludes to themes of plague, desperation, dehumanization, and loss. Although I have previously looked in this direction for inspiration, these historical paintings of the fleeting world feel more immediate to me than ever. I now see them as compassionate pictures rather than merely ones of dark, glittering glamour. I am also finding vanitas in my everyday surroundings, from the foods I wash in my sink to the items I stock in my freezer box. For this series, I have accumulated photos that colleagues, friends, and family have been asked to snap of foods and items they have stocked in their domestic and refrigerator interiors.