--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Red Hong Yi Explains the Origin and Meaning Behind Her 'I Am Not A Virus' Artwork image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe2f4b5a5154d277/6998cdf01f67097347f57344/poster_b50df7.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 13, 2021 # Red Hong Yi Explains the Origin and Meaning Behind Her 'I Am Not A Virus' Artwork by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/behind-the-cover/7370318/red-hong-yi-explains-the-origin-and-meaning-behind-her-i-am-not-a-virus-artwork/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/behind-the-cover/7370318/red-hong-yi-explains-the-origin-and-meaning-behind-her-i-am-not-a-virus-artwork/"},"headline":"Red Hong Yi Explains the Origin and Meaning Behind Her 'I Am Not A Virus' Artwork","datePublished":"2021-04-13T00:39:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:48:36.893Z","description":"TIME cover artist Red Hong Yi highlights anti-Asian violence and racism in her series entitled, 'I Am Not a Virus.'","url":"https://time.com/collections/behind-the-cover/7370318/red-hong-yi-explains-the-origin-and-meaning-behind-her-i-am-not-a-virus-artwork/","keywords":["society","Psychology","climate change","politics","celebrities","Books","Media","TIME","Art","World","entertainment","earth","Equality","behind the cover","Science","Include"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe2f4b5a5154d277/6998cdf01f67097347f57344/poster_b50df7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe2f4b5a5154d277/6998cdf01f67097347f57344/poster_b50df7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/behind-the-cover/7370318/red-hong-yi-explains-the-origin-and-meaning-behind-her-i-am-not-a-virus-artwork/","name":"Red Hong Yi Explains the Origin and Meaning Behind Her 'I Am Not A Virus' Artwork"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Red Hong Yi Explains the Origin and Meaning Behind Her 'I Am Not A Virus' Artwork","description":"TIME cover artist Red Hong Yi highlights anti-Asian violence and racism in her series entitled, 'I Am Not a Virus.'","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ev6nCH3Z/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-04-15T23:55:13.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ev6nCH3Z.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/behind-the-cover/7370318/red-hong-yi-explains-the-origin-and-meaning-behind-her-i-am-not-a-virus-artwork/","duration":"PT3M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/behind-the-cover/7370318/red-hong-yi-explains-the-origin-and-meaning-behind-her-i-am-not-a-virus-artwork/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```