poetryduringquarantine

[poetryduringquarantine]

“The Goldfish bowl” - By Kirsty Dawson

Digital art/photography

https://www.instagram.com/kirstydawson__/

“I am an artist that primarily works in video and digital art, focusing on distortion and dystopian narratives. This piece is a representation of my fears and anxieties in the first weeks of Lockdown. I felt as if the apartment I was living in had become a goldfish bowl, and that I was swimming between the walls...whilst everything outside my door became bigger and more terrifying.

As the curator of this exhibition, I’m exceptionally proud of every submission and believe that we have all come together to make something outstanding despite the circumstances. I personally thank every artist that has contributed to this exhibition. 

[poetryduringquarantine]

Paul Garrard

-digital art

( http://paulgarrard.com/ )

“I’m a multimedia artist now working solely with digital formats. Those formats being digital drawing/painting, video and sound/music. The medium I use for any one piece of work is dependent on my feelings and how I wish to express them. It doesn’t matter which way my creativity takes me, I’m led by that creativity. I normally consider the results of my labours to be collage no matter what medium I use. At times I may need to use more than one format to create symbiotic works to convey the same expression. It’s all about what works for me. Some of my output is ekphrastic; inspired by earlier works by me or other artists/musicians. I also much prefer to let my work speak for itself.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

Safia Rezai 

-poetry drawings

(https://www.instagram.com/safoography/?hl=en) 

“Usually my visual practice takes on a sculptural form, however poetry is something that I turn to alongside my artwork with a more autobiographical purpose. I also often use it as an emotional outlet and find it easier to write when something has provoked me, either positively or negatively. I have written this during isolation, on a day where I was particularly missing physical intimacy and the thrill and excitement that comes alongside our interactions with strangers. I was also romanticizing about the times we could be in public environments, not knowing what will become of that night or day. “

[poetryduringquarantine]

Tracey Downing

-Oil Paintings and a Moem (poem)

(https://www.instagram.com/traceyelizabethdowning/?hl=en)

“Stay at home vacation”

 There’s a kind of quiet elation

That’s born out of isolation

No more walking to the station

For now

 The degrees of separation

In the news to all the nation

Might cause exasperation 

It’s true

 Yet I hear the flowers whisper

And colours seem much crisper

And the energy they muster

Feels new

 Lots of ands and oughts and shoulds

If we could turn back we would

we’re all looking for the good

Somewhere

 It’s a time of pain and sorrow

Lots of worries for tomorrow

Hoping there’s more time to borrow

It’s bleak

 There is strangeness in disaster

Waiting doesn’t make things faster

Something we will learn to master

In time

 So remember your connections

Who to contact in vexation

For we all feel trepidation

Inside

 Let’s let go of hard held feelings

You know the kind that leave us reeling

Now is not the time for screaming

But peace

  Oh I could go on forever

But my thoughts I need to tether

And I’m wondering if you’ve fallen

Asleep 

 So one more line or three

This is the place we need to be

One day we will be free

There’s hope

 Always hope

 “I am an Artist and Art Psychotherapist who has begun writing again since the Corona Virus Lockdown, I have found that words have come more easily to me especially during sleepless nights. I am currently collating my Moems and Images to make a book.  I paint using oil and acrylic and have a studio at Wimbledon Art studios South London but an currently working from home. I describe my work as a semi-abstract response to observation, memory and thought and am interested in the inquiry elicited by images that sit between abstract and representational genres.  I an interested in what often goes unnoticed, enjoying exaggerating themes and motifs in a play between reality and the imagined.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

“our fates” by Jane Elizabeth Bennett 

-Artist book

(https://www.instagram.com/janeebennett/?hl=en )

Artist Jane Elizabeth Bennett’s practice is an examination of the world in which she finds her self. To her, existence is filled with systems of discontinuity. Meaning that memories fade, language is inadequate and places continually fracture and reform. Through her series of artist books, Bennett is exploring fragmented narratives and language. In the book 'Our Fates' she has taken found phrases from individuals undergoing quarantine. The form of a square flexagon takes their voice away from the traditional narrative and questions their meaning - allowing the viewer to give the words their own inference. The white on black suggests that the traditional way of laying down text has been reversed, we must develop our own opinions.

[poetryduringquarantine]

“Untitled” by Simona Mancheva 

-photography

(https://www.behance.net/SimonaManceva/ )

“Simona Mancheva [1989] is a visual artist. She holds an MFA Degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Skopje. Her artistic interests are based on perceiving fictitious reality and even more the active morality in societies. Through her artistic research, she tries to portray and shake down our constrained prejudices and stereotypes that strengthen the boundaries of our freedom, and at the same time develop people’s awareness of the realization of their rights and satisfaction of their needs. Gender, gender discrimination, inherited stereotypes, sexual identity, socially marginalized groups, diversity and variations of people and their bodies are the goals of her practice where understanding of all contradictions and stereotypes as an artist and the role of arts to intervene and re-examine these social constructs.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

“I am the...”by Catherine Jack 

Typewritten text on brown paper envelope

(https://www.instagram.com/cjack_artist/?hl=en)

“Catherine's practice largely consists of building paper collages using old National Geographic magazines, where she combines juxtaposing imagery with paint textures and often including text to add narrative. Here for 'I am the...', 2020, Catherine has used a typewriter to convey her abstract thoughts that have arisen through the lockdown. Each day is different; some days are easy and include joy, but others are harder where it is difficult to focus on creativity or even self-care. Sharing her inner ideas by typing them out, the weight of the keys punching the fragile, cheap paper, Catherine has helped herself address her issues and found a way to be less hard on herself.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

”When this is all over”- Rhiannon Kendall 

-Drawing, Collage, Poetry

(https://www.instagram.com/rhiannonkendallartist/?hl=en) 

“When this is all over' is a small drawing series that captures words from phone conversations between myself and my parents who live in a different city, in order to display universal moments of love, compassion, unity and support during the Coronavirus outbreak. The drawing appears in several sections, representative of a window - where many of us will seek as a space to look out and engage with the outside world during isolation. A space where we see the homes of others; where inside, comforting phone calls, video chats and messages are sent and received. As a currently isolated and distanced community experiencing moments of struggle and difficulty, we recognize the importance of these special, tender moments that will ensure we find comfort in these trying times.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

Stephanie Mackenzie

-Acrylic, Acrylic Ink on Paper

(https://www.instagram.com/stephaniemackenzieartist/?hl=en)

Art work names in order of apperance

1) Marked+ ECTASY

2) Calm+ DEDICATION

3) Bright SERENITY

4) Free Liberation

“With the global pandemic I created these pieces as an expression of human connection in a time of physical distancing. A documentation of inner emotions representing the wish to be connected, active and happy while maintaining solidarity during the temporary need to remain apart for the protection of humanity. This experience in quarantine has been both difficult and productive. I am originally from Toronto, Canada. In 2007 I got a one-way ticket to the largest hot spot for Art leaving my family and friends behind to pursue a dream. France is now my home and I am quarantined in Paris. The hardest part of this experience is losing my Mother and not having the ability to fly back and be with my Sister. I am grateful to have the possibility to video and stay connected which previously would never have been possible. But not having the physical contact is extremely emotionally difficult. The only thing that I can do is be proactive and use my emotional intelligent capability at a distance to understand and react to people that I care about. It at least gives me some sort of relief not being able to be physically present.  I have used this time to really be dedicated and dive deep into my thoughts and emotions. Channeling these feelings and digging further into my artistic ability. To nurture this, I use the vibration of sound by listening to a range of music. It transcends me into a meditative state and allows me to tap into my own awareness and submerge to my self conscious. “

[poetryduringquarantine]

Ana Louboutin

-Painting on clothing

“I am originally from Georgia.  Currently I've been working on project that is identity and political based, which includes the history of Russian and Georgian war. Russia has currently taken 20% of the country so I want to express that through clothes as I love fashion, my work presents dual identity as I have lived half of my life in the UK and half of my life in Georgia.   I'm creating/designing clothes with Georgian elements and traditional aspects; such as Georgian writings and elements from the war as well as showing my culture and introduce my roots. This is because not many people know about Georgia as a country and it's culture. As boring as this quarantine might be, lockdown really helped me to get on with my work, even more than usual; by intensifying my concentration and making me more focused, which gave me good work ethic. My dungarees work can be related to quarantine because of the material I have used. Denim is structurally stronger than regular trouser because of the intended use of coarser yarn count and heavy weight of the fabric. This links to quarantine as we all should be strong during this moment in time.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

Susan Avril Adamson

-Acrylic mixed media and poetry

“Hinterland Mystery that lies somewhere betwixt and between Hybrid mix of real and imaginary Stillness in the space behind the watery fall Silence in the bolt hole of the sheltered hollow A place of mindful solitude in peaceful mood An interval apart My creativity hides inside this hinterland Nestling amongst my insecurities In overlong hibernation I tease it out strand by strand Coax ideas and inspiration from it Till I can see the wood for the trees Like letting blood from stone Bit by bit weft and warp are woven Stitch by stitch a tapestry is sewn Colour informs, lines are drawn Mark by mark, stroke by stroke Mental images take shape bleeding onto paper”

[poetryduringquarantine]

”Losing you” by Alice the sad 

-poetry

There's a clash between people feeling stranded and alone in this time and people who are secluding themselves from everyone as a coping mechanism.  That clash is bringing more divide and uncertainty into relationships and that you'd think you can rely on. But in reality this is something no one really knows how to handle, so who knows what will happen once this is over?

[poetryduringquarantine]

“Transgression' by Affrica Berezicki-Stevens

-Digital art

(https://www.instagram.com/affricastudio/) 

Using AI technology to create this diptych, I fused together from the body and architecture to realise a fictionalised cityscape. The work transcends into the realm of abjection as the soft, suppleness of the buildings jar against what we know to be the laws of physics, resulting in an artwork that unsettles the viewer. This work was created after I moved to Manchester just as the lockdown began. I live in the city centre and my only view is of the high rises. As it became quieter and quieter during quarantine, the city scape became more and more ominous. This work reflects the surreal nature of the city in these unprecedented times.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

Naomi Even-Aberle

-Poetry

“As a martial artist, I own and run a locate martial arts gym, and since COVID-19 we have had to move all of our programmings online. This experience has opened up questions about how to engage with a digital community and how to bring and connect physically in this new virtual landscape. This platform has helped me investigate empathy and affect in the virtual realm, community development in a digital age, and the role of the camera in developing identity, and subjectivity. Furthermore, I am finishing up my first virtual residency with Cel del Nord and a small group of other artists from over the world. This residency has thrust me into a virtual landscape with other creatives working in a wide range of materials from fibers, paintings, podcasts, and martial arts. This experience has helped set boundaries and strategies for how to connect and work in collaboration virtually and in isolation physically. This experience has shown me that I truly love the connectivity that is available and that global collaborations are even more beneficial now.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

Ellie Niblock

-Photographic series of Silicone rubber structures

(https://www.ellieniblock.co.uk/)

1) “birth suit on the floor”

2) “Close up of hand birth suit”

3) “the birth suit”

[poetryduringquarantine]

“Silence” and “Stellar” by Angela Read  

SILENCE Soft soothing absence of noise Inner peace, inner calm Little sounds I seldom hear, I notice here Noise annihilated Contemplating, quietly

Energising recharge, recharged.

“I have always liked working with words but I primarily made visual art.  I can express my inner truth visually and it is open to interpretation, it feels safer I suppose.  However since lockdown making my visual art has been difficult to lack of quiet space to work in, so I have turned more to writing to express myself.  The writing works alongside my artistic practice in terms of the themes I am interested in.”

[poetryduringquarantine]

“Manchester” by Alex Blakey 

-biro on paper

(http://alxcreations.com/bio/)

“During lockdown I have had restricted access to materials so have begun working in biro, ink and any other materials I can find. This piece was inspired by the empty streets of Manchester. It captures a world where people are afraid to leave their homes, choose to work from home or relocate to the country leaving the city streets empty and forgotten. What would happen if the city became a place to fear? This piece depicts the iconic Prinworks in Manchester, left abandoned it has fallen into a state of disrepair, the streets around it cracking and deserted, nature beginning to take over. The remaining souls keep their distance wary of getting too close. I think this piece captures the sense of disreality, the undercurrent of fear and the feelings of isolation felt by so many during this time.”