Working In Isolation: Fear Intensifies For This Artist Throughout The Pandemic As Healing Comes with Creating Art

 Most artists work in relative isolation.  Our collective art practices and the creative process demands it.  It goes against the human urge to congregate and socialize.  Still, we persevere as the 'call to create' nudges us.  We then deliberately make space - intellectually, emotionally and physically. We move forward quietly, with intention and faith in the process.

Never have we been more aware of isolation than time spent in this Corona Virus pandemic environment. It is not our choice, but as artists we are familiar and in some ways ahead of the game over our fellow citizens by our familiarity and relative comfort with the loneliness of self - containment.  

San Diego Artist Linda Litteral while having been busy with a combination of a residency and creating art in her studio, finds the isolation has intensified the negative psychological issues that ironically have been a source of creativity and healing.

Pre-pandemic:

Armor            11"  x 12" x 19 " tall        Porcelain       2015

During Pandemic:

Pandemic Pots     4" dia x 9" tall approximate each separate vase and lid       porcelain       2020

 

                                                                Linda In The Studio

1)     How has your work shifted during the pandemic? Has it been a change in the process of you creating art? The mediums you use? The themes or concepts you are thinking about?

My work tends to evolve slowly, the content of childhood sexual abuse, trauma, and feminist issues stays with everything I do. I was at a residency at Desert Dairy in the beginning of the pandemic and stayed for 2 weeks. The energy and beauty of the desert and looking out at Joshua Tree National Monument was wonderful. It gave me a quiet entrance into the pandemic. When I was back home and in my studio, I really did not want to paint and have been working primarily in clay. I do not think my work has changed much, it just continues its evolution. I started working on spirals and how to carve and draw them at the residency. They have always been in my work but, seem to be central for now. I am working on a 7 foot totem that will be the center of a labyrinth I designed that the Feminist Image Group is doing for Desert Dairy space. It gives the group something to look forward to and we will go out and construct it this fall.

 

2) What have you discovered about yourself as an artist during this pandemic? 

 

It has been a difficult time to stay focused and moving forward. The lack of control over what I can do is too closely related to my childhood lack of control as an incest survivor. PTSD has raised its ugly head. As an artist I have pushed to stay busy as it is the one thing, art making, that allows me some psychological peace. While I am making art it is calm and I have purpose that makes sense in the moment. I find I like not having to have all the deadlines and constrictions on studio time that we had before the pandemic. I am pretty good at being an introvert and spending time with myself in my art making capacity.

 

The creative process is an innate human characteristic. This time has solidified that understanding for me. If we continue to repress our children's creativity by defunding all the arts, and trivializing creativity's value, we will be building the world that the Republican Trump administration stands for. Lies, gluttony, greed, hatred, misogyny, bigotry, etc.... Creativity is a shining light to a better world.  

 

3) What have been your biggest challenges working in isolation? Surprises?

 

The biggest challenge has been staying focused and contending with the past. While I have been speaking with my therapist throughout, I miss the one on one in person aspect of healing. The biggest surprise has been the way I have isolated almost completely. I rarely talk to anyone and while I do miss people, I have not pushed to have a lot of contact with anyone. There is fear involved in going out into the world that seems to be based in past traumas, and amplified by the ongoing trauma of the pandemic. The challenge will be to integrate the healing to encompass past, present and future that we cannot know. Then to address the healing evolution with art work.

 

Linda Litteral

www.lindalitteral.com

www.healingartprocess.com

Instagram: @lindalitteralartist

Facebook: @lindalitteral

Facebook: @lindalitteralartist

Working In Isolation: How Prioritizing Family Challenged This Artist In Making Space for Art-Making

Most artists work in relative isolation.  Our collective art practices and the creative process demands it.  It goes against the human urge to congregate and socialize.  Still, we persevere as the 'call to create' nudges us.  We then deliberately make space - intellectually, emotionally and physically. We move forward quietly, with the intention and faith in the process.

Never have we been more aware of isolation than time spent in this Corona Virus pandemic environment. It is not our choice, but as artists we are familiar and in some ways ahead of the game over our fellow citizens by our familiarity and relative comfort with the loneliness of self -containment.  

Artist Ellen Deiter shares how the challenges of COVID forced her to alter her home life and art practice to accommodate the needs of her family while continuing to make space for art-making.

Pre-Pandemic:

                              Flower Power       mixed media        36" x 36"        2020

During Pandemic:

Fearless       mixed media on canvas        36" x 36"        2020

Ellen Dieter in Studio

1)     How has your work shifted during the pandemic? Has it been a change in the process of you creating art? The mediums you use? The themes or concepts you are thinking about?

 

When we were ordered to shelter-in-place, my practice changed drastically. With my daughter and grandsons living with me at the time, all of a sudden we were on top of each other.  I normally worked during the day while they were at school and work. Now, I was helping them during the day, get on their zooms, make food, clean, etc….So, I had to adjust my practice to work at night when the house was quiet. At first, my work continued as always, but of course the ideas of what is happening get into ones head and out onto the canvases. I did a series on feeling lost at sea, my horse and rider series took on a new look with the rider wearing masks, and some small works dealt with social distancing.  The before painting I show here with the three women expresses friendship and standing together, the shelter in place painting, with the singular person reflects on the actual times, with BLM included, which for me, I have always supported.

 

 

2) What have you discovered about yourself as an artist during this pandemic? 

 

I am so amazed at how adaptive the human being is. How we can continue to put one foot in front of the other in the face of adversity. When we got the orders to shelter in place, when the schools closed, I thought, there is no way we will get through this. how will we get through this. But I soon realized that every day, I got up, got dressed, made my bed and did the next designated thing that needed to be done.  I did what I needed to do to stay healthy and sane. We are not “through” this yet, so, I am continuing to do just that, one day at a time. I also realized that helping my daughter and grandsons is what kept me going.

As for as what I learned about myself as an artist, I realized, well, actually already knew, I could just stay in my studio and paint. Before Covid, I would feel guilty if I didn’t go out in the day, and just stayed in my studio. So Covid gave me permission to do just that.

 

 

 3) What have been your biggest challenges working in isolation? Surprises?

 

I don’t have many challenges working in isolation. Maybe the biggest surprise is how much I do enjoy working in isolation. That said, I do miss having coffee with other artists and talking in person. I miss my group yoga and dance. I belong to a womens' artist group, TWA, and I miss our in person gatherings. The lack of physical meeting is a big challenge and plays with my mental state. I am grateful for the different zoom meetings, grateful for zoom, it is an imperfect solution for now.

 

 

https://ellendieterartist.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/EllenDieterArt

https://www.instagram.com/ellendieter/

 

Working In Isolation: This Artist Calls Her Practice During COVID 'An Introvert's Paradise'

Most artists work in relative isolation.  Our collective art practices and the creative process demands it.  It goes against the human urge to congregate and socialize.  Still, we persevere as the 'call to create' nudges us.  We then deliberately make space - intellectually, emotionally and physically. We move forward quietly, with the intention and faith in the process.

Never have we been more aware of isolation than time spent in this Corona Virus pandemic environment. It is not our choice, but as artists we are familiar and in some ways ahead of the game over our fellow citizens by our familiarity and relative comfort with the loneliness of self -containment.  

Artist Stacy Nixon works on her art practice in remote areas of California and New Mexico, so working in isolation is comfortable for her. As Nixon puts it: 

"Working in isolation is an introvert's paradise." 

Pre-Pandemic:

                           Mollis Vox             Encaustic and Pigment on Panel               30 x 30                   2019

During Pandemic:

       Equine Standard         Encaustic Mixed Media on Paper with Gold Leaf           25 x 19               2020

1) How has your work shifted during the pandemic? Has it been a change in the process of you creating art? The mediums you use? The themes or concepts you are thinking about?

 I was fortunate enough to be wrapping up a residency program as things began to shut down in mid march. I feel like I’ve had a super extended 6 month residency, really. Pre-pandemic I was focused largely on textural detail in my work, knowing I wanted to incorporate figures but not clear on how they would come in or what their purpose was. During that residency I began to get a glimmer of what I would later develop at home during quarantine. Lots and lots of figures began showing up in the form of the animals that trot past my studio, people in interesting silhouettes against their surroundings and architectural bits and pieces. I feel like I began to unload some of the enormous swirling subconscious ideas we were all experiencing about our places in the world and in relation to each other. I also began working on large beautiful paper instead of boards as I had been. Being free to make LOTS of pieces during this time, without attachment, has been so freeing. I have nailed down a beautiful process that I am so happy with and a series I feel is truly cohesive because of the state of mind I was in when creating it. 

 2) What have you discovered about yourself as an artist during this pandemic? 

 This time has shown me how much I thrive on long periods of uninterrupted isolation. Different artists thrive on different ratios of solitude and stimulation- I think I have now figured out my ideal balance. I feel it is easier to hear what the work wants when its quiet for a long time. Also, knowing there is no hurry to complete anything or an expectation to get on with it is the best kind of freedom. It’s the introverts paradise. 

 3) What have been your biggest challenges working in isolation? Surprises? 

For me the biggest challenge has been not being able to physically connect with people around making and showing art. Getting together with people who are making art themselves or are interested in what I have made adds such a special texture to life that just doesn’t translate to the virtual world. Talking about art while standing in front of it with someone is one of life's great pleasures- it lets our humanity peek out. And just like everyone else having shows cancelled or go virtual,  has been disappointing. The thing I found most surprising is being able to let go of my dislike for technology. It is usually pretty intense. But I decided it's not all bad. I live out in the sticks in California and New Mexico, where attending a class on a whim or a guild meeting is a major undertaking- so zoom has been quite gratifying in that way. It's almost like being a fly on the wall, also an introverts paradise. 

https://stacynixonart.com

instagram: @artstac

Working In Isolation: San Diego Artist Highlights the Importance of Social Connection to Her Art Practice

 

Most artists work in relative isolation.  Our collective art practices and the creative process demands it.  It goes against the human urge to congregate and socialize.  Still, we persevere as the 'call to create' nudges us.  We then deliberately make space - intellectually, emotionally and physically. We move forward quietly, with the intention and faith in the process.

Never have we been more aware of isolation than time spent in this Corona Virus pandemic environment. It is not our choice, but as artists we are familiar and in some ways ahead of the game over our fellow citizens by our familiarity and relative comfort with the loneliness of self -containment.  

San Diego artist Irene Abraham creates abstract paintings and drawings. Here, she talks about how isolation has motivated her to revisit her completed works and to "mend and revise" them as well as a push toward experimentation.  She also discusses the importance of social connection to artist friends and ties to the art community as a whole.

Pre-pandemic:

A Brighter Day        30" x 30"      mixed media       2020

During Pandemic:

Intermission         16" x 20"      mixed media          2020

Irene at Work in Studio

1) How has your work shifted during the pandemic? Has it been a change in the process of your creating art? The mediums you use? The themes or concepts you are thinking about?

 

I work in my home studio, so being sequestered at home has not shifted where I do my work.  While I am continuing with my main practice of painting and drawing, I have also been taking time to look through old sketch-books and re-organize my work space. 

I have also been taking old paintings and “mending” and revising them, or even totally covering them up and starting over.  It is a glorious feeling when I get to the point where I think I have finally resolved a painting.

 

Since I have fewer outside events now, I have also been able to expand my art-making and do more experimentation with new techniques.  I have been doing a lot of sketching while on Zoom meetings and also trying out some sculpture projects using a 3-D printer.

 

Certainly the political situation in combination with the pandemic has had at least a subliminal affect on the art I am producing.   Maybe my unconscious use of darker hues in my painting “Intermission” reflects these concerns. 

 

 2) What have you discovered about yourself as an artist during this pandemic?  

 

Making art is still very important to me and often exhilarating even under these constrained circumstances.  Creating work is necessary to my sense of well-being. However, although I have always enjoyed working in isolation,  I find that too much isolation can be enervating.  I have had to seek out ways to contact other artists, even if it is just a phone call or Zoom meeting. I have realized how much artists depend on interaction with other artists for stimulation, feedback and encouragement. 

 

3) What have been your biggest challenges working in isolation?      Surprises? 

 

A show I was supposed to curate with a colleague has been cancelled indefinitely.  My disappointment at this not happening made me realize how much I enjoy projects like this to get artwork out in the world. With no more artist meetings, gallery openings or studio visits I’ve had to find other ways to connect to the greater art world.

 

Luckily, we are living in that age of the internet so posting my work on various channels allows me to get a bit of feedback and cuts down on the feeling of artistic and social isolation.  I also get to see my art friends’ work and have enjoyed visiting galleries and museums on-line.

 

www.ireneabraham.com

instagram:#ireneabrahamart

                     #ireneabrahamstudio

https://www.saatchiart.com/irene981