December has rolled in, the holidays are upon us. It’s been nine months that our lives have been tested, tossed about, guinea-pigged. When the lockdown took place, artists started expressing themselves through their particular art. I created a few pieces of “Art in Isolation” myself. In some of them I collaged used sanitizing wipes. I started a “Light” series to counteract the shadows enveloping our days. I thought of De Chirico often. He of the deserted towns, plazas, buildings. His is the real Art in Isolation! His heart and mind seemed to be in permanent lockdown.
As the 9th month of the pandemic rolls in, what will we birth? Will we bring optimism and hope to the fore or rail against “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”? I believe I can safely assume that for many, the latter is in the order of the day – and no one can blame them.
However, how are artists reacting to these nine months of incubation? Are we still expressing the isolation? What is our creativity feeding upon?
“Life will never get back to what it used to be”, I often hear. There are so many ways to interpret this! However one looks at what we have now and what we expect or hope to have “after all this is over”, I believe we might as well get used to the idea that we’re not in Kansas anymore. So much has changed in the lives we lead: the shredder that is politics, the fear of getting less than 6ft. closer to another human being, the uncertainties and the general feeling that we are on a boat tossed by uncontrollable waves with no land in sight.
And here we invite Darwin. Not his “natural selection” but the adaptability of organisms to their environment with a view to living better and surviving. I feel that artists have the built-in switch to turn on the light when the electricity is out. We carry within a transformer that may flicker but will not die. And when it flickers, we look at the momentary darkness and get an idea for a painting, an article or a book based on that very darkness. We do not rail against it: we dare it!
But one does not need to be an artist to adjust to a new neighborhood, one that is different from our Kansas. It may take time, effort, introspection, but we humans are resilient, adaptable, survivors by nature.
And while we are busy with this process of creating the best life we can under the circumstances, we may be blessed with an infinite moment when we open a door and step into the light! We must decide to believe that while Kansas was not perfect but used to serve us well, there are new doors to be opened, new and surprising trails to follow and, above all, new Us to be discovered. And that Kansas was just one of many places awaiting us.
Painting below: “Revelation”
