Since a lot of my current plans for the year have fallen through in some respect or another due to the pandemic and consequent complications, I've been spending a lot more time in studio. Around the 3rd week of April, I caught wind of a virtual mural festival that was focusing on COVID-19 and the isolation that many are dealing with, as well as taking a look at the potential outcomes and mindsets moving forward. Organized by Pangeaseed, SeaWalls, Alternative Arts Initiative in New Zealand, and Whanganui Walls, over 800 artists worldwide took part in the festival, painting in or on their homes/studios in an attempt to maintain connection in a time where we're all disconnected.
As I've been doing a lot of work lately that's revolving around plants and our connection on a personal level, I decided for this mural in my studio, that I would paint a sort of self portrait. I wanted it to fill up much of the space of the wall, squeezed in as though to show the cramped conditions and personal feelings. The plants are both a metaphor for the ideas that have been growing in my head, my somewhat spiky personality (especially since being in isolation in the studio for the past 2+ months), and my wishes to be somewhere outside where there's a bit more plant life and a bit less concrete. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The concept that I've been exploring lately pertains mainly to how similar we are to plants in some aspects. How when you look into the various personalities and traits that individual plants have, you can find similarities in people. The small plant in the jar is this concept being nurtured. By replacing the heads of people with plants, like I have previously done for the past few years with animals, I want people to put themselves into these situations. Or to put the plant kingdom into their shoes. The fact that we have been inside is allowing many plants and wildlife to flourish, so it's worth taking a look at how we will act once this is over. Will we go back to exactly the same way of life as before, or will we take this time that we've had to consider ways to improve our routines? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I wish I could have painted this somewhere outside, but it was fun to paint nevertheless and will serve as a sort of personal reminder of these concepts once the pandemic is over.
As I've been doing a lot of work lately that's revolving around plants and our connection on a personal level, I decided for this mural in my studio, that I would paint a sort of self portrait. I wanted it to fill up much of the space of the wall, squeezed in as though to show the cramped conditions and personal feelings. The plants are both a metaphor for the ideas that have been growing in my head, my somewhat spiky personality (especially since being in isolation in the studio for the past 2+ months), and my wishes to be somewhere outside where there's a bit more plant life and a bit less concrete. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The concept that I've been exploring lately pertains mainly to how similar we are to plants in some aspects. How when you look into the various personalities and traits that individual plants have, you can find similarities in people. The small plant in the jar is this concept being nurtured. By replacing the heads of people with plants, like I have previously done for the past few years with animals, I want people to put themselves into these situations. Or to put the plant kingdom into their shoes. The fact that we have been inside is allowing many plants and wildlife to flourish, so it's worth taking a look at how we will act once this is over. Will we go back to exactly the same way of life as before, or will we take this time that we've had to consider ways to improve our routines? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I wish I could have painted this somewhere outside, but it was fun to paint nevertheless and will serve as a sort of personal reminder of these concepts once the pandemic is over.
