While I hope that in the not too distant future, the title of this post will confound a reader, right now, it refers very obviously to the shared global experience of staying put and limiting social interaction in the hopes of slowing the spread of coronavirus, our current pandemic .
Faced with the suggestion of weeks under ‘lockdown’, I’ve overheard many different sentiments, mostly on the nope, can’t do it side of the spectrum. For me, spending expansive stretches of time by myself is a givenn — in solitude is how most artists breathe — so I had no concerns about my psychological ability to handle the situation. What I didn’t expect was the absolute relief it has offered. At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, being freed from all expectation of social participation has been among the more expansive sensations I’ve had. It’s as if the energy I donated to the ongoing inner conflict of whether or not to attend this or that event has poured straight into the vessel of creation; truly, I can’t remember the last time I felt such a fire to experiment, prototype, and create.
That said, what I’m up to now draws heavily on a previous work, Ripple Effect. While that piece was made of discarded neoprene sponge gasket centers, these pieces employ the leftover stash of virgin felt acquired during a commissioned project. The term ‘ripple effect’ has jumped out to me numerous times daily in reading about the potential economic aftereffects of the coronavirus. Similarly, at the time that I first made that piece, the fallout from the 2008 crash was continuing to regularly conjure the metaphor.
These new pieces I’m making, like their predecessor, employ accumulations of folded fabric, yet are wall mounted sculptures. While they may appear three-dimensional, the works all have flat backs, hence my reference in the title to the tagline of public health initiatives. My other intention with these new pieces is to create noise-canceling decorative works in joy inducing colors and textures. With all of the time we are spending at home these days, I feel like anything that may mute out the neighbors, not to mention the constant clang of the media fear machine, is urgently useful.
