What Now?

Sunday, March 22, 2020 4:00 PM 16:00
Thursday, December 31, 2020 4:00 PM 16:00

Ely Center of Contemporary Art 51 Trumbull Street New Haven, CT, 06510 United States (map)

Google Calendar ICS

Amid the current health crisis, we are all left looking not only at our present, but ahead to our future - what do we do now? How is the current health crisis affecting you, and what does the future look like? Novels such as Brave New World, Handmaid's Tale, Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 describe surreal and dystopian futures that now seem eerily all too real—so what is the new normal? What Now?

Humankind is resilient and mandated isolation results in creative adaptation and novel ways to connect. We want to amplify as many voices as possible during this time of solidarity and community.

Click each image to view full-size.

Press Release

BRIAN SLATTERY : NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
Ely Center Leaps Into Virtual Space | May 6, 2020

LUCY GELLMAN : ARTS PAPER
Ely Center Asks: What Now? | May 4, 2020

SUSAN DUNNE : HARTFORD COURANT
Artists around Connecticut are turning their emotions about the coronavirus pandemic into new works | April 12, 2020

KATHY CZEPIEL : DAILY NUTMEG NEW HAVEN
Works from Home | April 3, 2020

Featured

Howard Greenberg
Covid Masks
Ballpoint pen
2020
MD, USA

“ I am a retired public school art teacher, who doodles and I have a line of adult and children’s coloring books, and exhibit my work locally in Maryland. Since the pandemic I’ve been doodling multiples and stretching my boundaries.”

greenbergsgarage.com

Stefani Byrd
Point Cloud.v001: Bird’s Eye View
Digital Photographic Print made with LIDAR Scanner
2020
Fayetteville, AR

“Home is most often seen as a refuge, a place of respite, a destination, and a goal. Domestic spaces are some of the most familiar places we inhabit, but rarely are they deemed worthy of meticulous consideration. This work utilizes my own domestic life as source material for an intimate visual study of form and space using 3D scanning technology. domicile explores how the pandemic and the need to quarantine has changed our collective relationship to home, shifting it from a refuge to also that of a confine. The boundary of the home is one that protects, but also restricts. This work embraces the creative challenges and limitations of confinement by using an emerging form of technology for the hyper-documentation of what is seen everyday but rarely noticed.

This project was created using 3D scanning technology called LIDAR, a type of laser scanning that creates point clouds and mesh maps of surfaces or objects. Until recently, this technology was cost prohibitive for general use and reserved for commercial processes like architectural or landscape surveying. These tools have only recently been integrated into the next generation of smartphones and tablets, putting LIDAR into the mainstream. As an artist, I am interested in using these tools for archiving the commonplace while conceptually exploring the experience of stasis during a global crisis. These scans are intentionally abstracted and record the formal qualities of space and volume, as well as absence and presence. There is also an unexpected vulnerability in virtually allowing others inside of my home. This work shifts a space, my personal space, from one that was necessarily private and inaccessible to one that can be publicly viewed and explored.”

View all of Stefani’s artwork here.
www.stefanibyrd.com/domicile

Christina Geoghegan
Fata Morgana
Acrylic ink on paper
2020
Dublin, Ireland

www.creativescg.com
www.saatchiart.com/christinageoghegan
@christina.geoghegan

Barbara Fenton
So many hopes
Acrylic
2021
NY, USA

“Painted following the inauguration of President Joe Biden.”

Melanie Fischer
Sanitizer
Sewn fabric
2020
NY, USA

www.melaniefischer.com
@melaniefischerstudio

Beryl Brenner
When The Dust Settles
Fused glass
2020
NY, USA

“To be a glass artist is to understand the concept of radical change since glass has the capacity to transform from grains of sand to a hot melted form and to a cold hard form when it cools down. In it’s cold form it is fragile and it can break into a million pieces. In addition, it can be ground up and return to an earlier state of being grains of sand as well.

My work “When The Dust Settles” is truly a visual metaphor for the times. It is a fused glass piece of work that visually references the glass in its sand form as well as its cold hard form. It has reached this form by firing the piece at very hot temperatures. If I drop it will break and it will break differently every time.

We live in a world that is like this.

To ask the question What Now is purely speculative. So much has happened that anything can happen. Nothing is guaranteed.”

Cherrie Yu
Trio A Translation Project (Enid and Ignacio)
Video
2020
Chicago, IL

“In summer 2020, I started translating Yvonne Rainer’s 1965 dance “Trio A” with a series of individuals with different professions and backgrounds. The individuals each had a loved person transcribe the original dance into a written score, which we worked with to devise new movements. During the rehearsal process, each performer produced writings which became the voiceover to the movements. This iteration of the work features two performers Enid Smith, a former dancer with the Merce Cunningham Company, and Ignacio Morales, a custodian at the Inland Steel Building in downtown Chicago. Their journal writings were read by me in the background. I respond to the open call with this work because it felt timely to work on the dances during the lockdown. Rainer made Trio A in the mid 1960s as a gut response of “horror and disbelief upon seeing a Vietnamese shot dead on TV — not at the sight of death however, but at the fact that TV can be shut off afterwards as after a bad Western.” In response she decided that amongst the violence, denial, chaos and indifference, only her own body “remains that enduring reality.” In today’s crisis we are faced with a similar challenge — as our range of mobility shrinks, and our direct contact with other humans becomes limited, we are also left with our own bodies as the enduring reality. Something firm, graspable, fragile, and precious.”

View Cherrie’s video here.

Ira Upin
Covid Alley
Oil on Panel
2020
PA, USA

“As I have always watched a lot of TV, at times I would feel at the same time both guilty and engaged by what interested me while watching. Guilty because there is the criticism in our culture of it being a waste of our time - yet engaging (especially now with the advent of hi-def flat screen technology) because of the visual, illuminated panoply of images that are constantly at our fingertips.

Currently with the scourge of the coronavirus pandemic upon us watching TV has become a national pastime more than ever. As I watch I started taking pictures of images that interested me and used the images as source material for a series of new paintings called TMTV (Too Much TV) - Modified Visions From the Tube.

My intension for these was to go a little lighter than what I did for my last solo show “Fear and Anger” in 2017. But as things have not changed much since then, these new works still seem to express the dark and ominous circumstances in which we find ourselves.”

www.iraupin.com

Hilary Goldblatt
Diving into the Wreck
Wood, cut up old canvases, modeling compound and staples
2019-2020
Seattle, WA

“The title I've used for my piece is Diving into the Wreck, borrowed from the late Audrey Flack's poetry book of the same title. The poem opens with the speaker preparing for an actual dive into a shipwreck. Many view the poem as a metaphor relating to the struggles for women's rights, but to me it feels like an "exploratory" dive into the depths of self for a close and hopefully honest examination. At this terrifying time we need to find comfort and security in something other than the outer world.”

hilarygoldblatt.com

Molly Heron
Mask Up New York 2020
Digital photography
2020
NY, USA

“Since May 2020, I’ve asked New Yorkers, mostly in Central Park, for permission to take a picture of them in their masks. I’m continually intrigued by the choice of masks and the issues of fashion and identity. Most everyone likes to tell the tale of their choice of mask. Together, these portraits resemble an all-too-familiar screen-chat session where we see one another virtually. But in fact they are the products of in-person encounters, temporary connections of no more than a few minutes that for me have strung together meaning in this time of isolation.”

www.mollyheron.com

Juliet Martin
Dining Room on Wednesday
Hand-woven and machine-made fabric, inkjet prints, fabric paint, cardboard, wood
2020
NY, USA

“When I was 16, keeping distant meant one foot on the floor. Now my bedroom set is my new best friend. I sit on the bed with one foot on the floor. In a mask. My gaze at your picture. My relationships are with my dining set. And fruit bowl. The still life is now my only life. I will weave upholstery so I can touch it.”

julietmartin.com
@remotelyjuliet

Barbara Ringer
Now What
Digital photography
2018
CT, USA

“There's a mannequin that has been my surrogate in work dealing with trauma and anxiety; we’re born in confusion, and often face situations that seem to have no good choices. Struggling to live only in the present moment has never been more difficult, yet may be the best way to salvage some hope for the future.”

www.BarbaraRinger.com
@Bronxgal33

Julia Coash
There’s A Crack In Everything ….. #6
Oil, collage, mixed media on paper
2020 (Series: 2016-20)
KY, USA

“This recent mixed media work, titled There’s a crack in everything ….. #6 is a visual response to our present-day socio-political climate. The surface is collaged with newspaper articles that create layers of visual archeology. The dark fractured composition alludes to current socio-political tensions and I feel that the following quote from Leonard Cohen’s song “Anthem” best sums up these sentiments of despair and hope: ‘There’s a crack in everything ….. that's how the light gets in.’”

juliaacoash.com

Maddie McDougall
Collective Healing
Installation (Torn canvas with acrylic and concrete)
2020
Springfield, MA

“After the pain exacerbated during the administration of the 46th presidency, our nation has reached a point where we must reach across divides to rebuild and heal. Our future is depending on the courage we’ll need to find rooted in togetherness and a brave optimism that is willing to listen with compassion, willing to heal our collective wounds.”

www.maddiemcdougall.com

Marketa Senkyrik
Inside (Imaginary Autoportrait)
Watercolour on Hayle Mill Hot Press 145gsm
2020
UK/Italy

“How natural is breathing?
What about touching your friends?
Do you remember the smell of other people?

I find it alarming that an illness not only attacks us by disabling such a primary bodily function as breathing deprives us all of our basic freedom.
This is the true call to a change. Or to become extinct. The series of paintings I did during the lockdown due to the Covid 19 pandemic reflect my feelings about these strange times. Paintings are watercolour on Hayle Mill Hot Press vintage paper. Made at a mill shut down in 1987 - the year I was born; each blank sheet of paper is a piece of a fine craftsmanship by itself. I am playing with transparency, notion of movement (breathing)…”

marketas.net

Featured

Yahaira Juan
ARMOUR
Acrylic on paper
2020
CT, USA

“I wore my armour everyday by choice. Not anymore - it's a different time. This was created by feelings. A week filled with internal and external battles.”

Michelle Lisa Herman
Untitled
Found object and resin
2020

www.michellelisaherman.com
@MichelleLisaHerman

Fiona Doolan
Abhaile
Paper, oil on wood
2020
Dublin, Ireland

“Fiona produces collage, ink, and written work. Reflecting on Ireland's rapid transformation from agrarian to manufacturing to postindustrial society, Fiona depicts unmooring of identity in a nation known for its hospitality and goodwill. A frequent sight in her neighbourhood is a grandfather in wool cap and sportcoat. He reads the Sunday paper, and is often engaged in friendly banter with friends and cafe guests. In a possible future stripped of the comfortable neighbourly social fabric, does he become a thing of myth, without specific identity or definition? 'Abhaile', pronounced 'ah-wall-yah', is Gaelic for 'home.'“

www.saatchiart.com/fionacdoolan

Hannah Duggan
Exposure
Porcelain
2020
MA, USA

“When COVID-19 cases were just starting to increase in the U.S., there were so many articles with information and misinformation speculating about the virus and its impact. Images started appearing on online news sources like illustrative interpretations of the virus and nurses in hazmat suits. But the images I was most struck by seeing at the time were the chest x-rays of COVID-19 victims. ‘Exposure’ is based off an image of a chest x-ray of a COVID-19 victim taken off the internet; one of thousands I could have picked from. Viewing the interior of a person seems so intimate. As an online spectator with no connection to the individuals, I felt an ambivalence to seeing these x-rays. The internet hosts so much information, but unlike a traditional archive, its information shifts depending on search engines, time, the individual user and can be intentionally deleted or lost due to malfunction. I chose to xerox transfer the chest x-ray image onto 8 ½ by 11” porcelain tablets. Affixing digital imagery onto clay embeds the digital, something that lacks materiality, into a body of clay. Clay is one of the most archival materials; It first recorded written language. I am interested in the tension created in suspending digital media by embedding it in clay. Doing so takes digital imagery from the internet, an unstable archive, and places it into one of most reliable, archival materials.”

www.hannahduggan.com

Donnelly Marks
Afloat X
Cyanotype print
2020
NY, USA

“Like many artists affected by COVID's shelter in place, I leaned into the online art community, experimented with new materials and processes and became involved with art in service auctions for PPE, food drives and a support eh USPS exhibition. This cyanotype print ‘Afloat X’ is a direct result of recent experimenting with new alternative print processing and one of a new ongoing series of art prints. We carry on! We are resilient.”

www.assemblages.donnellymarks.com
@donnellymarks

Jeanette Compton
Amanita
Pen and ink drawing
2020
Hamden, CT

jeanettecomptonart.com
@jeanettecomptonart

Gilmara Oliveira
Distanciamento Social
Digital media
2020
Contagem/Minas Gerais/Brasil

Raji Jagadeesan
Plague
Video, 8:15 running time
2020
Filmed in Italy, post-production in UK

“Having found myself in Venice when the coronavirus outbreak enveloped Italy in late February, I chose to use my interests in both fictional and documentary approaches to the visual image to create the short film Plague. My research process focused on the World Health Organization's coronavirus press briefings, which began in January and have continued with growing urgency.”

View Raji’s video here.

Roy Money
Touching the Earth
Archival digital photograph
2020
USA

“In this existentially challenging time of deepening crises I find hope and heart in the earth, even in the very ground we call ‘dirty.’ This disdained and disregarded surface is the foundation for our movement and habitation and the source of food for us as well as myriad other species. We have consumed the bounties of this earth wantonly and now have accelerating causes to reconsider our history. There is a legendary story of Shakyamuni Buddha being attacked by the demonic King Mara. When this happens Buddha reaches down with his right hand and touches the earth and the earth responds with a loud roar causing Mara and all his soldiers to disappear. The virus will not disappear but we can learn to live more cooperatively and to find inspiration in the resilience of the earth itself.”

www.roymoney.com
@roymon

Naomi Nevo Ben Ari
Yard View
Oil
2020
CT, USA

www.naominba.art

Åke Arnerdal
”And now?”
Mixed media (photograph, fabric, plastic, fur)
2019
Old Saybrook, CT

Lynne Friedman
Covid Protective Spirit-Italia
Mixed media collage
2020
Kingston, NY

“Each mixed media piece is a hope and call to the spirits for protection against the virus and a wish for our ability going into the future to nourish and care for the earth and all living things.”

lynnefriedmanart.com

Cora Jane Glasser
People Alone
Acrylic on paper
2020
Brooklyn, NY

“During the height of the pandemic in NYC, my ‘studio’ became frequent walks along the East River Promenade. I photographed the stark emptiness, sometimes with solitary figures, sometimes with structures standing as witness. Upon returning to the studio, I created 36 paintings memorializing the experience. They are organized into 2 main sets, one with people and one without. This image shows the set of 18., all with people, all alone. The starkness and emptiness emblematic of the moment is offset by the colors of red and yellow, injecting an element of optimism as well as compositional relief. The black line was done as armature, loosely with pencil, intuitively, while glancing at the photos. I then enhanced the line using acrylic refillable marker, and finally added color with acrylic paint. Importantly, masks appear as repetitive dots of black acrylic. The exercise of making these paintings was cathartic, and necessary in getting back to the semblance of a normal studio practice, thus addressing the question this exhibit poses. They hang provisionally on my wall, a constant reminder of those early, not so distant days.“

cjanepaint.com

Kristin Reed
The Walker
Digital Print
2020
NY, USA

“During the pandemic shutdown for a while I was locked out of my studio and lived alone in my apartment in Brooklyn. The constant sirens and daily reports of a climbing death toll paralyzed me for some time. My elevated anxiety finally helped me connect to the creative spirit—I started drawing figures late at night directly from the heart. They were more akin to work I had done years ago and really not like the abstract work I do now. I decided to use those drawings to teach myself how to draw on an iPad. I had strung some Tibetan Prayer flags over my table for meditation and soon realized that the figures I was drawing were meant to be prayer flags for the pandemic, which I then created in Photoshop. Each one was a way of working through different stages of grief, fear and anxiety to find a way to be whole again and walk away to a stronger future.”

Eileen Weitzman
THE SCREAM socially isolating
Paper, canvas, yarn, stuffed fabric, gouache, acrylic, ink, cardboard, paper mâché
2020
Brooklyn, NY

“My humorous response to how the world has been dealing with the lockdown and isolation, emphasizing that we're all affected by this and we will get through it.”

eileenweitzman.com

Marjorie Sopkin
Fingers Crossed
Acrylic & flashe on canvas
2019
CT, USA

“It has been four years of trying to keep up with the madness of Donald Trump’s tangled web of lies and deceit. His actions have left so many of us exhausted and overwhelmed. Much of my time in the studio has been spent using color and paint to work through the unending onslaught of emotions this administration has brought to the surface. As we near what many hope is the end of this presidency, my fingers are crossed.”

www.sopkinart.com

Lori Horowitz
Grieve
Aluminum wire, spun copper,woven and sewn copper wire
2020
NY, USA

“It’s difficult finding balance between creating art and understanding its place in relation to the pandemic. The isolation of working in the studio was self-imposed, with a sense of independence and contentment. Now isolation seems more like a punishment without visible cause or choice. Past relief sculptures were about the interactions of individuals, their challenges and social place, but my current efforts reflect social distancing. Instead of depicting people in society, I’m finding humanity through nature, a place to which I have unlimited access. In my ”Exodus ” series, photographic mono prints of root formations are combined with colored pencil drawing. Delving deep within the image, I encourage figures to reveal themselves. Sculptural figures take on these postures and are shrouded in gauze and spun copper that are ethereal and translucent. Forms emerge from the earth, deeply rooted in past struggles and current challenges face globally. We are all one species, equally vulnerable and must stand together to find place, sanctuary, belonging and comfort in these uncertain times.”

lorihorowitz.com

Jaye Alison Moscariello
Cow Mountain, Smoke & Fire
Acrylic, casein, watercolor on canvas
Redwood Valley, CA

“In the midst of a pandemic, with the added endangerment of extremely unhealthy and hazardous air quality, I decided to take the orange and gray of the smoke and fire and transform it into something that I love, our landscape and my interpretation of it. We are so fortunate in California to live in a place that has non stop dramatic views, no matter what landscape you prefer; ocean, mountains, desert, it is always beautiful even when she is up in flames. I know that some of the east coasters might not agree, and that's okay. I love a lot about the east coast too, my sister, my cousins, my husband’s sibs and their children, old friends. But right now I am focussed on the beauty that we get to live in. The mountains will remain long after the occupants of Pennsylvania Avenue leave, and so will the sky and the ocean. I am grateful for all of it.”

jayesite.com

Betsy Higgins-Steele
We The People…
Oil on canvas
2020
Truro, MA

Christine Hales
Lamentation Icon
Egg tempera on wood
2020
FL, USA

“This icon has been my reminder that God wants to hear our lamentations, it's ok to cry out in our pain and sorrow.”

www.newchristianicons.com

Regina Silvers
Fist Protest BLM
Mixed media
2020
New York, NY

“As we face more and more serious restrictions on our democratic rights and institutions, we must continue to stand up for them and take appropriate action- including peaceful protest- to insure social justice and the continuation of our democracy.”

Shira Toren
Quarry
Venetian plaster, pigment on canvas
2020
New York, NY

“Isolation has radically shifted the decibel level of my life and dramatically reoriented me toward the natural world. For the many months of this pandemic, I quarantined in a rural area, all my attention turned to nature, I observed the colors changing and seasons turning, the peeling of bark, the bloom of algae and plastic waste products piling. I felt extreme heat and heeded tornado warnings. The climate change crisis penetrates deeper now, a reminder of the fragility of our infrastructure, surroundings and the importance of protecting this planet as a refuge. I depict vulnerable landscapes, with an unraveling quality, as a way to communicate to viewers the importance of preserving what has existed before us, and needs to exist after.”

Sarah Balcombe
Movin’ On
Oil on canvas
2020
CT, USA

“Sarah Balcombe received her Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and her Master of Arts from Cambridge University, followed by a MA(Architecture) from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Her finely tuned artistic skills originated with her sketching of people in places, more specifically the relationship of each to their context. She focuses on how the places in which people live imprint upon them. Similarly the landscapes themselves are affected by their inhabitants. This series addresses issues such as economic uncertainty, friendship, rivalry and reinvention instigated by this pandemic. With women being particularly vulnerable to isolation and displacement, these paintings convey the sense of loss and limbo that is commonly experienced when staying put is not an option.”

Ciara Heatherman
Shadows on Pink Granite
Oil on Canvas Panel
2020
Marble Falls, TX

“This painting explores themes of uncertainty surrounding motherhood and the future. I began this painting in January of this year after we made the temporary move from the east coast, to Texas. It took on a new meaning in the coming months with the introduction of COVID-19, and all the challenges it continues to bring on in terms of parenting."

Hank Paper
Neighbors 2
Archival inkjet print
2020
CT, USA

Martha Savage
Masks Save Lives
Mixed media collage greeting card with magnet and sticker
2020
CT, USA

“Collage featuring children’s book illustrations have an appealing innocence and relatability that draws the viewer in for a closer look. But on careful examination, the image reveals a contemporary theme. We live in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic and further potential viral threat. These cute, vintage poodles in 1950s-60s dress, and rabbit (circa 1920s) have been combined and positioned to tell our current and future reality of masks as an essential part of our wardrobe and kit. Anthropomorphized poodles are going about their messy, busy, daily life while wearing little masks as the rabbit points to the message. The original artwork is a 4.5”X4” greeting card. I’ve made multiples as stickers and magnets which are accessible and affordable for anyone.”

martha-savage.com

Laura Shabott
Repose in a Cubist Universe
Charcoal and Sumi Ink on Paper
2020
Provincetown, MA

“Laura Shabott is a graduate from SMFA at TUFTS. Emily Mergel of Artscope Magazine writes ‘[the artist] continually draws inspiration from abstract expressionist Hans Hofmann and breaks forms into their most evocative essential…she seizes the opportunity to burst the gallery walls, speaking with intentional gesture in visual vocabulary all her own.’ Shabott is represented by Berta Walker Gallery.”

www.artsy.net/berta-walker-gallery

Helaine Soller
Downed Tree With Fungus
Acrylic on canvas
NY, USA

“Social isolation due to Covid - 19 renewed my appreciation for the basics of life: art, family, food, walks, digital communication, reading and delivery services. My painting reflects a heightened sensitivity to my surroundings as subject matter. Downed Tree series of paintings and drawings seeks to reveal the beauty and drama found in nature at a moment in time, to create awareness of our fragile ecosystems through intimate views of nature's beauty, power, and cycles of destruction and regeneration. They bridge the gap between everyday events in nature and a viewer's experience. Perhaps a warning and reflection of our current society.”

www.helainesoller.com

Featured

Ellen Alt
You are here
Acrylic on Yupo paper
2020
NY, USA

“How do we get perspective? This piece is about the feeling of being swirled around by the simultaneous forces of virus, climate change, racial inequity and looming election. We are in the center of this storm, but around us is the larger view, the next steps, the way forward. Hope we find it.”

www.ellenalt.com

Norma Greenwood
STUCK AND SILENCED
Collage construction
2018
NY, USA

“For many people stuck in quarantine, or caught in an immigration nightmare, life can seem like a virtual prison. My collage shows figures inside a glass enclosure, unable to escape and silently calling out.”

www.normagreenwood.com

Vincent Baldassano
Urgency
Digital Print
2018
CT, USA

vincentbaldassano.com

Marie Roberts
In Midst of Crisis
Crayon on watercolor paper
2020
Brooklyn, NY

“Drawing is magic and power and the only constant. I draw everywhere, from observation and from invention and from memory and synthesis. I draw small and big. Like Giacometti, I don’t know how to draw that’s why I do it every day. And like Hokusai, if I only had ten more years, I am just learning to see. And like Thomas Rowlandson on his deathbed, dissipated, alcoholic - holding up his pencils, I still have these. Drawing is magic.”

www.bitterwonder.com

Sarah Schneiderman
45th President
Found and Recycled Objects and Everyday Trash on Paper
2017
CT, USA

“On November 8, 2016, Donald J. Trump was elected 45th president of the United States of America. He won the electoral college votes but not the popular vote. He has no political or military experience. With the outbreak of coronavirus, unemployment is soaring. The economy is flagging. Unfortunately, 45 believes that economic growth is more important than protecting the lives of US citizens. His approval rating hovers around 40 percent.”

sarahschneiderman.com

Daralee Schulman
Chaos/Crisis
Collage
2020
NY, USA

“The pandemic has taken a heavy toll. As I reflected about the many positive cases, hospitalizations and deaths globally, I felt the world was falling apart. My collage represents the destruction of so many lives. Hopefully, my next collage will represent our world, and its population, whole again.”

Susan L. Berger
Let it be clear our democracy is at stake
Mixed-media (weave stitching, tacks, photomontage, fiber, and markers)
2017/2019
Kingston, NY

“We are being assaulted daily by the Trump administration in daily crisis. His administration has affected all groups that don’t fall into view of his America. We are all ‘Americans.’ We need a regime change and not to forget who we are and how much greater our country should be. The health crisis is paramount and is what’s wrong with America now. We need to be better and to change things and by using the Pandemic as a means to reach out to a better government policies that we can be the nation as described in the ‘Statue of Liberty’ we will be that country/nation and until then we are living in a deep state which is ugly and wipes out what United States is truly about. Every cabinet member of this current administration even with its changes is represented by the dystopian thought and of its consequences. You have postcard images of the White House now is a barrier to its citizens and is taboo and social distancing to the public. In totalitarian rule the government will never benefit society. As in 1984, which is highlighted in the work, it takes away all individuality both in people’s thoughts and actions. As Emma Lazarus stated: ‘Until we are all free none of us are free.’ The health crisis is the epitome of not being free and hurting those who are most fragile and need our help and concern.”

susanlberger.com

Tristan Onek
Sisyphus
Acrylic on canvas
2020
ME, USA

“Much like the Greek figure Sisyphus who was condemned to roll a boulder up a hill for it to only roll down the other side before restarting the task for all eternity, the current pandemic often provides a feeling as if any progress is only a summit before the top of the hill allows gravity to take its toll on any perceived notion of victory. After rolling the boulder over the summit enough times, it becomes difficult to not feel almost bound to the burden in a sense of painful oneness.”

tristanonek.com

Olga Alexander
Land Locked
Mixed-media sculpture
2020
New York City, NY

@nodescollection

Antonius Kho
Mother & Child 1
Multimedia on canvas
2020
Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

antoniuskho.com

Everaldo Luiz
Respect
Coffee and pen on paper
2020
São Paulo, Brazil

Joseph Annino
Social Distancing
Oil on panel
2020
Newtown, CT

“This has been a time to learn to live without, to realize what is essential, and to respect it. In isolation, we are only with those who are closest to us. Without the outside world, we no longer must adhere to its demands. We find new ways to look towards each other, instead of out to the world behind us. There is no need to present the image society expects, we can be naked, simply ourselves. There is space to consider new possibilities created by absence and what is left, to not take the current world order as given, to see what that world order values most when it is laid bare in crisis, and to look out and question those values. That is why these times have been so explosive, and have triggered movements and change unimaginable only weeks ago.”

@joeaguy

Jane Ehrlich
cV3
Acrylic on canvas
2020
Hudson, NY

Giuliana Polimeni
THE CARE 2020 - Weared diary for a Pandemic protected hug
Used clothes, hand-woven nylon, cooked white rice
2020
Rome, Italy

Peggy Bloomer
Faith, Hope, and Charity
Collage
2020
Clinton, CT

peggybloomer.net

Joey Archuleta
Covid 15
Oil pastel, graphite, primer, matte medium on paper
2020

Qrcky
Anxious
Oil on canvas
MD, USA

“Afrofuturism redefine culture & notions of Blackness for today and the future.”

qrcky.net

S. Darius Parker
Loud
Acrylic
2020
GA, USA

@s.dariusparker

Silvia Veloso
Quarantine Virtual Society
Illustration
2020
Barcelona, Spain

@velososilvia

Magdéleine FERRU
Quiétude
Photo and cyanotype manipulation, collage
2020
France

“Forget the notion of time; Create a new world, your own world; Live, breath, love, share, discover; Enjoy the sun and the rain, the move of the wind in the grass; Look at the beauty surrounding you; Laugh, and be happy from the very tip of your toenail to the very end of your hair.”

www.justmagd.com

Susan Hoffman Fishman
Corona: Resilience
Acrylic and collage on paper
2020
West Hartford, CT

“Modeled after ancient Chinese hand scrolls, works of art that depict a continuous, often historic narrative, Resilience tells the story of the global pandemic. A wavy, cobalt-blue river runs from left to right, cutting the picture plane in half. Above the river, within a blue-gray background, large circular shapes suggest the electron microscope images of Covid-19 that have been widely used by the media to represent the virus. These shapes disappear as the river reaches the right side of the painting and are replaced by other circular shapes that contain floral patterns, signs of spring and rebirth. In addition, a series of empty chairs, six-inches apart, sit patiently along the river bed, waiting for the peril to lift. The river in the painting flows in its usual manner while suffering and death are inflicted upon the global human population. Since the dawn of the Industrial Age, rivers like this one have had to adapt to man-made disturbances that have threatened the quality and flow of their waters. This time, it is us who must demonstrate resiliency by finding new ways of being as we experience this global tragedy.”

www.susanhoffmanfishman.com

Ingrid "Gigi" Barthelemy
The Effects of Self-Isolation on Mona
Acrylic & paper on canvas
2020
CT, USA

“Self isolation can make you build layers upon layers of doubt, anxiety, fear, insecurity, anger, sadness and delusion and many other mental harms.”

Rhea
Shore (from The Flows Series)
Woodcut
2020
NY, USA

“The shift to emergency remote instruction was fast and stressful. Accustomed to working in the studios with my students, being on the computer all day changing projects, discussing jpegs was tiring and unsatisfactory to say the very least. I worried a great deal about the students I wasn’t hearing from. I found the only way I could sustain was to work in my home studio. The woodcuts evolved to be very calming images. They seemed to remind me of the need to go with the flow. As important as we humans think we are, there are things we can not control. Better to respond than react. I felt and feel immense gratitude to be able to make my work.

Slow down, just listen

Bigger energies are in control

Allow, be with

Time passes

Change is”

rheanowak.com

Fleur Spolidor
Our house is burning
Digital work
2020
Amsterdam, Netherlands

“‘Our house is burning and we're looking the other way’ is a sentence pronounced by Jacques Chirac, President of the French Republic, at the opening of his speech before the plenary assembly of the 4th Earth Summit on September 2, 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

‘Our house is on fire’ is also a sentence pronounced by climate activist Greta Thunberg in 2019 at the The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

This little digital artwork Our house is burning is inspired by climate change and the consequences of the virus. After losing their jobs, many people won’t be able to pay their rent, starting with people already living in substandard housing. After the health crisis, governments have to deal with a new financial crisis.

Because of the virus we’re using more plastic and disposable products, we're adding to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that's already floating between California and Hawaii.

During the confinement, we were amazed by the disappearance of the pollution over large metropolis, we were enjoying the silence and the whistling of the birds. Now we’re hoping for better days, let’s make sure they are better for the planet too.”

www.fleurspolidor.com
@artefleur

Frieda Ruh
Sending Virtual Hugs
Digital media
2020
Germany

View all of Frieda’s artwork here.
friedaruh.com
@friedaruh

Victoria Tórtora
Untitled
2020
Buenos Aires, Argentina

“Que el tiempo no existe, que es sólo una categoría humana, ya lo sabíamos. Se nos permitía creer en la realidad efímera del instante, que ahora parece también desdibujarse.

Ya no hay un ahora. Y si no existe el ahora, estamos flotando en lo que no es, poniendo a prueba nuestra propia existencia.

Es urgente aprender a pensar distinto, para poder así, existir, de otra manera.

That time does not exist, that it is only a human concept, we already knew. We were allowed to believe in the ephemeral reality of the moment, which now also seems to be fading.There is no longer a now. And if there is no now, we are floating in what it is not, putting to test our own existence.

It is urgent to learn to think differently, in order to exist, in another way.”

@no.tan.victo

Jazmin Vilamowski
Graphite drawing
2020
Argentina

”Heroes of the moment.”

@vilart__

Resul Jusufi
un titles
Carton & acrylic
2020
Graz, Austria

View all of Resul’s artwork here.

Marissa Asal
Isolation
Oil on canvas panel
2020
Southington, CT

“With unemployment skyrocketing and social gatherings being either canceled or postponed, most of my commissions have had to be moved to later in the year. The art museum I work at has also been closed during this period. I decided to use this spare time to create a more personal piece: a self portrait during quarantine.”

Sabrina Newman
Visible Shroom Spectrum
Epoxy resin and acrylic paint
2020
AZ, USA

www.coolartbysab.bigcartel.com

Featured

Isabelle Schneider
Stoop Contemplations
Photograph
2020
NY, USA

“I have not left my NYC stoop/front "yard" area in over 2 months. This restriction, though self-imposed, is an obstacle for any lens-based art practice. One day, while out front, with the mantra of "work with what you have", I decided to shoot the windows of my building once again. Window blinds with shadows and/or reflections have been the subjects of my work long before COVID, yet they become quite relevant to this time, being an integral part of what shelters and "tucks" one in. This resonated after seeing many selfies and quarantine pics with blinds online. The meditative cloud reflections provide the much-needed opportunities to dream and escape as well as contemplate and reflect.”

www.isabelleschneider.com

@isabelleschneiderart

Mandy Beatrice
Alien In The Garden
Acrylic on canvas drop cloth
2020
Naugatuck, CT

“The pandemic has thrown me into my art full force. I was laid off in March and have used all of my days up in my studio, forging tapestries out of mania.“

@indiedreamboat

Corina Alvarezdelugo
Herod’s Evil
Yarn & bunny tail grass
2020
CT, USA

www.justcorina.com
@justcorina_studio

Yolanta Gawlik
The Dream
Etching & aquatint
2020
Cornwall, UK

www.yolantagawlik.com
@yolanta.gawlik

Yomi Bas
The Eternal Man
Oil on canvas
2019
Nigeria

yomibasart.com
@yomibas

John Baloy
Reflection
Digital photograph
2020
Johannesburg, South Africa

Ruby Silvious
Moving Forward
Watercolor on used tea bags
2020
Coxsackie, NY

“With masks now part of the new norm, there's something mystifying about unseen facial expressions.”

www.rubysilvious.com

Kori Ann
Shielded Love
Watercolor
2020
NY, USA

@Kori_Ann_Art

Vera Primavera
Collective Heartbreak
Digital media
2020
Mexico

www.veraveraprimavera.com

Ileana Dumitriu
Melting
Acrylics on canvas
2020
New Haven, CT

“Now is the time to pause and think about how disconnected from nature we have become.

Melting is an abstract snapshot evoking the irreversible and continuously changing landscape of the ice caps drifting and falling apart.”

www.floracolstudio.com
@floracolstudio

Marlon Mayugba
it’s in their blood
Digital media
2020
Philippines

www.marlonmayugba.com
@marsmygb

Sarah Healy
Pandemic Partner
Photograph
2020
Maryland, USA

@missothelioma

Alice Katz
Good vs Evil
Collage
2020
CT, USA

“I wish this crisis created solidarity. It has on some levels, but it is also dividing the world into those who wish evil and those who are helping out of goodness. It also shows evil forces we face as humans, such as destructive viruses. The two forces are about equal. I am uncertain about the future.”

Yulia Yakubovich
Self-Isolation
Cardboard, acrylic, acrylic ink, acrylic varnish
2020
Moscow, Russian Federation

“The work Self-Isolation was created during the world pandemic and symbolizes the process of conscious isolation from the outside world in order to save your life and the lives of others. As you know, this measure was introduced by the governments of numerous countries and shows how serious the problem of COVID 19 infection is. An individual in this situation feels helpless, feels internal discomfort from the inability to live a normal life. However most realize that forced loneliness in this situation is crucial, like gold. The moon in my work is a symbol of loneliness. The Golden color of the moon increases the significance of loneliness in this situation. The Golden hand in the ‘dialogue’ with the disk of the moon and shows that man is waiting for the end of isolation and a meeting with nature. The red outline around the figure is a protective Cover of prayers, thoughts, and gratitude to the people around you. This figure shows the entire vulnerability of a person to reality.

The work is done on cardboard using acrylic, varnish, pencils, ink. Finished 04.04.2020”

www.yulia-yakubovich.com

Ruth Sack
Random I
Encaustic on birch board
2020
CT, USA

“Artist’s response to the random nature of the pandemic, how some of its victims suffer while others feel nothing.”

Joanie Landau
LiveLifeVersion 3
Digital Photography / Digital Media
2020
CT, USA

“I created ‘LiveLife’ during week 10 of the Covid pandemic. I wanted to continue working on my ‘Ode to Robert Indiana’ series which focuses on positive words. Feeling creatively depleted, I was at a loss for uplifting words for this time in history. I considered the words Life and Live. I worked on them separately at first, but it occurred to me that they go together like holding hands. I flipped LIFE around to mirror LIVE in order to illustrate how we need to live our lives to the fullest during these critical times and beyond.”

www.joanielandaudesigns.com

Betty Tang
Silent Spring
Collage, found objects on canvas
2020
CT, USA

“Staying at home as the COVID-19 situation progresses, I have been fascinated by the increasing silence from humans while nature grows louder. This piece highlights human interconnectedness with nature and our food systems. It pays homage to the essential work that people working in our food industry do that is foundational in enabling society to function, while also questioning how this crisis might offer the opportunity to transform our food systems for the better.”

Margaret Vaughan
Love in the Time of Corona
Tulle and aquatic mesh
2020
CT, USA

“These masks represent both the concept of violent distancing from physical interaction and intimacy in the uncertain time of a pandemic.”

Thomas Lail
Map I
One minute excerpt of 8:18 min video
2020
Kinderhook, NY

View all of Thomas’ artwork here.

Ramona Russu
Hope
Mixed media on fine art Hahnemühle bamboo paper
April 2020
Corsica, France

www.ramonarussu.com
@ramona_russu

Sandra Zanetti
Up in the Air
Installation
2020
FL, USA

View Sandra’s full video here.
sandrazanetti.myportfolio.com
@sandrazanetti_

Susan McHale
Texting: All at Sea
Mixed media acrylic
2019
CT, USA

Generalova Kate
Revelation
Digital media
2020
Saint-Petersburg, Russia

"It became a “revelation” for me when the news began to report that doctors are subjected to aggressive behavior by the urban population.

This is due to the fact that people panic and are afraid of being infected by doctors.

This work conveys how much people who help the population are “naked” and not protected deal with the epidemic."

@generalova_kate

Analia Adorni
Diagnosi
Acrylics on hardboard
2020
Italy

“My artwork attend to reflect about the relationships in times of COVID19. In these days I am seeing a control in the diary life of citizens and the necessity of vigilance.

MI intention is to reflect about the strong control in the movements, life and relationships of people, penalizations for the citizens in case of no action according the rules.

National States use words like war, victory, friends and unfriends: in consequence appear the phenomenon of social distancing and isolation.

This situation transforms the life of population and contribute to create paranoiac; but, at the same time is a positive change, because this time is an opportunity for to increase the solidarity and the relationships.

After this adversity the world will be better: more solidarity and more creative. This emergency is already a step for a better world. The relationships will change: the persons will be more simply and equality. We will socialize most honesty. The poor people will be accepted and included in the society and we will enjoy of simply things.

After this adversity the people will take more carefully with the nature. Climatic changes will be reconsidered and Young's people more listened in relation at the "clima reclaims". Global warming will be accepted and people will enjoy of landscapes and nature. Artists will change the form of work and will work more in open spaces and in ‘plain air.’

My artworks speaks about a better world, in a spiritual vision of nature and relationships: nature/culture.”

Jackie Brown
Waking Up Earth
2020
London, UK

“I use natural materials to investigate the relationship between the domestic interior and the natural world.

I live in the city, one of the largest and most diverse cities on the planet but I am responding to a time when there was a more direct collaboration between human settlement and the immediate natural surroundings.

I walk out to gather leaves and bark that have fallen to the park or wood floor. I seek out earth that is showing itself through the mass of architecture and street furniture. Cutting, sticking, sewing. Piling and sieving these harvests are fashioned into objects that reflect a domestic narrative.

London is now in week 4 of Lockdown. This piece titled ‘ Waking up’ was taking part in a group show entitled ‘Equinox’, illustrating the participants responses to the theme of the Spring Equinox on March 21st. On the 20th March , the gallery of St Marylebone Church closed its doors until further notice. It seems rather ironic that these seeds waiting to burst through the surface of the earth are locked away in the crypt, having to wait in the dark till it’s safe to appear. “

Southlondonwomenartists.co.uk

Helga Lebedeva
COVID19 Doctor
Paper, ink
2020
St. Petersburg, Russia

“‘The doctor took off his usual crow mask and put on a bat costume.’

In February 2019, when the media started to panic and there were a lot of myths about covid19. I drew my version of the ‘plague doctor.’ And wrote verified facts about the virus from the WHO website, in order to reduce panic in creative society. The other artists supported me and together we began to publish reliable information about the virus.

Thus, I called for critical thinking and verification of all facts.”

@epiclynxx

Vasilis Thalassinos
Behemoth’s Child
2020
Athens, Greece

“As I get older my thoughts and whispers go back to my childish way of interpreting the common reality. The first strike in the lungs of our prison-societies is just the appetizer; the main dish to follow will be far more painful. An empty stomach and poverty, this is what my new imaginary friend, Behemoth’s child, is shouting.”

www.arteslivres.com

Van Lanigh
Keep in Touch
Oil on canvas
2018
Netherlands

“My response, let's keep in touch. Although the Internet nowadays maybe is a bit too complicated and overwhelming.

But still, let's use it for roaming around this Brave New Digital World.

Somehow we would have to rebuild our identities using all these digital profiles and mediums available to us and continue with social interaction, as it's the only possible way now.”

www.vanlanigh.com
@vanlanigh

Christopher E. Manning
Reach IV
Collage on Polaroid
2020
North Salem, NY

“Our current pandemic has rendered life to be experienced and seen as an abbreviated existence through small vignettes. I’ve been focusing what has been made inaccessible, a renewed focus on what’s right in front of us, what’s beneath the mundane everyday and what we are all reaching for but unable to touch.”

www.christopheremanning.com
@christopher.e.manning

Morgan Bukovec
finding calm while we wait
Mixed media collage
2020
OH, USA

“What now? We turn to community, kindness, and storytelling. We gravitate toward connection and share our voice with others. We listen to understand and seek healing through reflection and moments of shared love and empathy.”

www.morganbukovec.com

Featured

Bethany Waggoner
Emerging from Hibernation
Spray-paint, Paint Pen
2020
Seward, Alaska

“While our human world has come to a standstill, the natural world is continuing on. The whales are returning to Alaska for the summer to feed, and the bears are waking up.

We often feel untouchable and superior as human beings. Just as a brown bear reminds us as a species of our vulnerability, this pandemic has also put us in our place.

I sincerely hope we can take the right lessons from this experience. What do you think they are?”

@bee.swag

BeeSwagCreations

Hugo van Dorsser
Fear and Loathing in the Supermarket Carpark
Charcoal and Ink on paper
2020
New Zealand

“A nightmare, once dreamed, is evolving into our conscious reality. We appear to be threatened by the ones who hold our country in the palm of their hand. I'm uncertain of the future, and going to the supermarket doesn't provide any reassurance. It only highlights society's moral degeneracy.”

@hugovandorsser

Ethan Minsker
Water tower collection
Papier-mâché, collage, gouache acrylic
NY, USA

@ethanminsker

Amy Greenleaf
Homebound
Archival Giclee Print
2020
Guilford, CT

amysuegreenleaf.squarespace.com

Roula Adbuljabbar
Long Distance Love
2020
Baghdad, Iraq

Zoran Poposki FRSA
Utopia (Crisis Series)
Charcoal, collage, pastel, crayon, and ink on paper
2019
Hong Kong, China

www.poposki.art
@drpoposki

Victoria Sivigny
Entangled Dance
Cold wax and oil on oil paper
2020
CT, USA

“Abstract expressionism as voice to the duality of chaos vs. order; a dance as ancient as a virus. We dance now before a mirror, alone and together, exposing our true natures. An evolutionary leap, or Mother Nature’s attempt for planetary homeostasis?”

www.victoriasivigny.com

Sarahi Zacatelco
Cross Border Feminist Manifesto
2020
New Haven, CT

Amira Brown
Rose Soul Cocktail
Mixed Media
2020
CT, USA

“While I've been creating the wealthy elite who are couched in their mansions live off of our souls, bodies and lives. Rose Soul Cocktail is a small piece addressing this reality.”

amirahb.art

Christine Chaise Greenwood
Contagion
Acrylic paint on canvas
2020
CT, USA

www.christinechaisegreenwood.weebly.com

Azin Moradi
Real Superheroes
2020
Iran

”When I was little I always used to ask my mom about superheroes, those who can fly, those who are powerful enough to fight with bad guys and save the world…now I can see them. They can’t fly or they can’t fight with a large group of bad guys, but…they are saving the world. They are the real superheroes. They left their lives behind for us, they are risking their lives all around the world for our health…Not anybody can be this brave. Let’s care about each other more and let’s make them happy…let’s stay home and fight with this damn virus. Let’s do it for them…for ourselves.”

@azinart0_0 on Instagram

Jenkins Okpokpor
Fibowokeria-Uvbo (Keep Calm and Stay Home)
Acrylic on paper
2020
Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria

“My painting is about a noble figure; His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II (Ovbi’Ekpen N’Owa) of the great ancient city of Benin at Ugie Ewere, the annual Igue Festival. Ugie Ewere holds at the beginning of the Benin yearly calendar. In the early hours of the Ugie Ewere, young people across every quarter in Benin run around every street bearing firebrands to wade off evil and bad luck from the dying year. When the day is bright, everyone plucks the ewere leaves to symbolize an incoming prosperous year.

What to do now is to never stop seeking for blessings even in our Pains just as we do during Ugie Ewere. The more you look, the more you think of not just what you’re seeing but about yourself, your existence. In such turbulent times, there is still hope: As we pray, let’s “Keep Calm, and Stay Home” until COVID-19 dies. It’s time to eat fear back and become stronger until we win.”

Mel Lineham
Untitled
Collage
2020
Melbourne, Australia

Alisa Chunchue
Ocular
Single channel video
2020
Bangkok, Thailand

View Alisa’s videos here.

OOO
Ordinary and Extra-Ordinary series: Costco
Oil on canvas
2020
CT, USA

working-ooo.com

Vicente Ortiz Cortez
Atardecer (Sunset)
Colored pencil on paper
2018
Philadelphia, PA

“My creative practice is concerned with anthropocenic anxieties. The orb shown here has repeatedly appeared in my work as a metaphor for mother nature and its power as an equalizer. In this 2018 drawing in particular, the orb hovers over the northeastern United States, much like the coronavirus today, releasing its catastrophic power.”

www.ortizcortez.com

Kate Emery
Waiting
Oil on canvas
2020
CT, USA

“I've decided that this time we’re in is much like birth…. While you're pregnant, you think you're in control 'cause you've read every book known to man about pregnancy and birth and had nieces and nephews, not to mention tons of babysitting experience. But when the labor starts in earnest, everything goes out the window, and it's just primal. It's terrifying and excruciatingly painful, and when it's all over, the world is a totally different place, and when you look down at this new thing that's come into the world, you cannot believe you ever lived without it. I think our collective water just broke….”

Margaret Roleke
Pandemic/Paramedic
Stickers over collaged woodblock print
2020
CT, USA

Valeria Barbas
Borders: Covid19
Mixed medium on canvas
2020
Republic of Moldova

“Made in India, Jaipur, in March just before borders closed. Using recycling material, my mask and my mother’s from airports. The work traveled with us back home, into quarantine. I think artists should live their art, as the art should live ours.”

Marsha Borden
Hand-Stitch on Old Quilt
Fiber, textile
2020
CT, USA

www.marshaborden.com

Michelle Frick
EMS Perch (detail)
Nineteen handmade cast cotton and medical supply birds, ambulance gurney, intravenous stand, medical trash, sound
2012
NY, USA

View all of Michelle’s artwork here.

Augusto Ponderosi
Death Appears on the Flags
2019
Rome, Italy

Viorel Florin Costea
Dada International - Readymade
Acrylic, ballpoint pen, conté, enamel, gel pen, gouache, ink, marker, pencil, silverpoint, spray paint, stencil, collages
2020
Moinesti, Romania

“It is a new dream about a visionary world where the arts are important, where people are polite and smile, a place where everyone respects anybody! I know, it's a dream, I already told you. But what about this idea? We need culture, we need civilized women and men, we need artists and they need (all of) us, right?”

Nate Lerner
Co-Star No. 5
Inkjet print
2020
New Haven, CT

Christopher Evans
The Passenger series
Ink, pen, and whiteout on paper
St. Petersburg, FL

Emily Herberich
Untitled
Oil on canvas
2019
New Haven, CT

Mark Szantyr

Mark Szantyr
Western Civilization
2020
CT, USA

Melanie Carr
Inhale
Paper, acrylic, flow, medium, glue
2020
Essex, CT

Posted in exhibition