Pandemic Clouds (2022), consisting of eight, floating, mixed-media sculptures, is a reflection back on two-years of living through a pandemic and the absence it caused. Textiles used in the work were manufactured in multiple countries (Belgium, China, England, France, India, Italy, Turkey, and the United States), speaking to the global reach and impact of the virus, as well as our collective approach to hindering its spread through isolation. The clustering forms reference our prolonged state of confinement (suspended in time), particularly during the first year; individually sheltered yet collectively existing within this new reality and, at the time, its unfathomable longevity.
The title of the work and its forms simultaneously allude to COVID-19 aerosol droplets, and outdoor, condensed water vapor clouds, both of which are suspended in air; these make connections between the fear of a virus made up of particles, too small to be seen, with the joy of an expansive skyscape - the outdoors being a way to escape our protective enclosures while safely engaging with others at a distance. The clustering forms are close in proximity to one another, yet never physically interact; everyone in seclusion, living in their own, manufactured bubble and carefully navigating their surroundings.
The making of each piece was a cathartic release of the psychological trauma from the start of the pandemic, a way to expel repressed feelings of fear and anxiety caused by isolation and the dramatic reduction of human interaction. This piece is dedicated to the individuals who ensured I made it through the first year of the pandemic.
This installation was funded by a Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Fellowship.
The title of the work and its forms simultaneously allude to COVID-19 aerosol droplets, and outdoor, condensed water vapor clouds, both of which are suspended in air; these make connections between the fear of a virus made up of particles, too small to be seen, with the joy of an expansive skyscape - the outdoors being a way to escape our protective enclosures while safely engaging with others at a distance. The clustering forms are close in proximity to one another, yet never physically interact; everyone in seclusion, living in their own, manufactured bubble and carefully navigating their surroundings.
The making of each piece was a cathartic release of the psychological trauma from the start of the pandemic, a way to expel repressed feelings of fear and anxiety caused by isolation and the dramatic reduction of human interaction. This piece is dedicated to the individuals who ensured I made it through the first year of the pandemic.
This installation was funded by a Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Fellowship.