Our forty-third post of the series, Artists in the Time of Coronavirus includes Noth Liu, Stacey Carmody, Joseph Borzotta, Barbara Cole, Amie Potsic, Sandra Benhaim, and Fay Stanford! Thank you for all who submitted! And if you want to participate, send your statement (250 words max) and 2 photos to support@theartblog.org. More details here. Stay safe and stay positive, and come back in the days to come for more “Artists in the Time of Coronavirus.” We have a wonderful community and are so proud of being able to share everyone’s art.
[Note: We have gotten over 300 submissions, so if you haven’t seen yours yet, don’t worry- it is coming, and we can’t wait to post it!]
Noth Liu
During the COVID pandemic, people are facing the problem of lacking emotional communication.
So I built a new way to boost people’s emotional communication during this challenging time. Let’s Chat Like This is a screen-based interactive installation that allows two people to interact with a shared interactively generated image by using their facial expressions. It can be a potential plugin for video chatting applications like Zoom.
When experiencing this artwork, people’s emotions are bound together with the same moving image they see. They will be aware of their current mood as well as the other. They will see the complexity of human emotion, the intimacy and empathy between them will be increased. Their emotions are bound together with the same moving image they see. This is not only a way of communication that helps us connect emotionally during this special time caused by COVID-19, but also my hypothesis of what future emotional communication will be like.
Noth Liu is a multimedia artist & designer and lives in Brooklyn currently. In May 2020, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Department of Digital Arts at Pratt Institute. She participated in the “EVO.DVO.REVO” at the group exhibition CYFEST-12: International Media Art Festival in December 2018. She had been a guest speaker to the “Remixing Reality” class at the Department of Integrated Digital Media at New York University in February 2020.
Stacey Carmody
I work at Einstein hospital in Philadelphia. In a month’s time, about 200 COVID19 patients would enter the system. I work in research, and not on the front lines, so I am fortunate to be able to work from home. I think about my coworkers on the front lines every day.I have always been artistic, and spending more time at home has allowed me to tap into my creativity. One sketch captures what most of us feel as we feel stuck in time, planted firm by the pandemic. The other is a baseball-inspired tribute to the medical profession.
Joseph Borzotta
The first piece was done as c19 was closing in, along with dreary weather. Instead of elaborate hair as in the sketch, instead I put her in a hoodie to reflect the hunkering down mentality and ominous, foreboding mood. A nod to Magritte in the title reflects these surreal times. She looks over her shoulder, hard to enjoy beauty when surrounded by so much fear.
The cardinal was painted a few weeks ago on a printed canvas I found at a thrift for $2. In the middle was the word Love, and I painted this cardinal over it and put the piece on IG. A woman contacted me to say she’s been depressed and this made her happy and wanted to buy it. Since then I’ve painted birds for a very low price and making a few bucks while bringing some lightness to folks.
www.JosephBorzotta.com
the-gallery-guy.blogspot.com
www.palettegallery.net
Barbara Cole
Art has a way of taking us outside of ourselves and helps us to connect with each other. Visual art is a conduit for a shared experience that goes beyond words and sounds. In this particular time, artists need to think out of the box and present their art in new creative ways. Galleries are closing their doors so social media and video and YouTube are even more important. If my creative needs are taken care of, then I am emotionally well-balanced. At the moment, since all of my work involves people, that’s hard to do. I realized how important it is to be flexible. There is always something I can do. For the community, I’m trying to post helpful information regarding mental health tips on Instagram and helping out with my neighbours when I can.
Amie Potsic
I want to wish everyone good health, safety, and love in this unprecedented time. I send support and well wishes to friends and colleagues around the world and to everyone affected across the globe. My deepest thanks to all those who are working hard to provide necessary services, supplies, and creative life-lines to our fellow humans. We all need each other now.
Here I am sharing images of my recent solo exhibition “Midnight Mass” at the Delaware Contemporary, which was forced to close early due to the Covid-19 crisis. I feel grateful that the show was up long enough to have the opening reception and for me to document it and to make a video of the exhibition. Turning lemons into lemonade, I transformed my large-scale, site-specific installation into a virtual exhibition in order to share it with audiences who couldn’t experience it in person. Using new platforms to share our work and communicate with others is an upside of this situation. I look forward to artists having more ways to share our work and connect with others in a digital environment. Doing so truly has the potential to remove national borders and art-world hierarchies in pursuit of genuine connection and communication – the reason we all make and love art.
To experience the exhibition, please visit: https://www.amiepotsicartadvisory.com/virtual-exhibitions-blog/2020/3/17/midnight-mass-featuring-artist-amie-potsic
Sandra Benhaim
I’m appreciative for this virtual exhibition, and to be able to share some of what I’ve been working on during this unprecedented, chaotic, and truly difficult time. Hopefully, viewing artwork images – even if not the actual art – can help to uplift spirits.
For some time I had wanted to translate my 8.5” x 5.5” drawing to a larger work, and during this time of confinement for COVID-19, I was able to focus on doing that. You can see some progress images of the “translation”, and other images, on my Instagram profile, or my website . The final artwork, New NM Inspiration, is a 60” x 36” Oil + Pigment Sticks on Canvas painting. It’s available to go from my studio to a new home, uplifting someone else’s spirits.
https://sandrabenhaim.com/
https://www.instagram.com/sbenhaimart/
Fay Stanford
The lockdown is providing the opportunity to spend even more time in my head. I watch television series where the characters create a magical, loving community and I’m a member! I read the Diary of Samuel Pepys and I wander through London in the 1660s. I daydream about rescuing injured birds, nursing them back to health, and releasing them in field and forest. I am unimaginably lovely and deeply appreciated by an adoring public.
There are anxious flare ups—was that trip to the self-checkout at Acme an exposure to the virus? So far, at least, nothing has developed from these uncomfortable moments.
May I continue undisturbed in my fantasy world and you in yours.
Fay Stanford
faystanford.com
