Class of 2020: Hear from Emerging Artists Affected by Lockdown
Jennifer Louise Martin, Self-Portrait, @jenniferlouisemartin
In May 2020, RUYA MAPS asked to hear about the experiences of early-career artists who have been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Many of their plans had been disproportionately affected by the responses of countries around the world, as lockdown saw degree shows being forced online, studio visits halted and arts festivals postponed.
We invited emerging artists, ‘the class of 2020,’ to answer a set of questions and to share the last piece that they were working on. The questionnaire offered an insight into how artists who all identified as early-career were responding to lockdown across different countries and artistic disciplines. Among art that took in painting and photography, we also received work that represented the full range of the visual arts such as contemporary dance, sculpture and copperwork. Ahead of sharing the shortlisted artists, here are some of the responses from artists to the questionnaire:
Lili Gyarmati, Siblings, @lilies_are_poisonous
Where are you spending the lockdown?
‘‘I’m spending the lockdown in rural Belgium, some 30 kilometres south of Brussels. This is where I grew up and where my parents live. It had been 8 years since I had last spent this much time here with them.’’ - Yanaëlle Thiran, Belgium, @yanaelledanse
Where, if anywhere, would you rather be?
‘‘Surfing in Fiji island.’’ - ELKYMY, London, @elkymyart
What item in your current studio environment are you most grateful for?
‘‘I am a serious collector when it comes materials, so being forced to stay at home working has given me time and space to use the objects I have surrounded myself with throughout the years in my apartment. Things that I haven’t had the time to study; such as bones, roots and other pieces of nature have now been taken out and become parts of my work.’’ - Helena Perminger, Stockholm, @helenaperminger
When do you tend to create art?
‘‘All my time is dedicated to create my art, non stop. The lockdown has giving me time to focus more on different styles that I was looking forward to experiencing and developing. Also it’s helping me to go further on my own artistic expression projected on my art, channeling my feelings, expressing them and just doing it.’’ - Mali Mowcka, London, @mowcka
Which artwork is giving you inspiration during this time?
‘‘I’m very inspired by an artist called Erwin Wurm, I’ve wanted to make pieces based on his for a very long time, but it never fit in with my usual processes, so it wound up on the back burner. Now with more spare time I’ve had the chance to revisit this and it’s been pretty fun. I’m also really inspired by Yoko Ono’s ‘Grapefruit’ and ‘Do It: The Compendium’ by Hans Ulrich Obrist which are great reads for the current situation.’’ - Mollie Balshaw, @molliebalshaw
Italian artist DUDI presenting his work, @dudi_arte
Which song is going to represent the summer of 2020 for you?
‘‘Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, the future’s not ours to see ...Que Sera sera’’ - Neerja Peters, New Delhi, duendethestudio.com
Who would you want to self-isolate with, if you could choose any figure from history?
‘‘Bob Marley, for obvious reasons! Maybe Wassily Kandinsky and Frida Kahlo on weekends.’’ - Daphne Ang, London, @ladylazarus.art
Why might the pandemic have impacted your artistic purpose?
‘‘For the first time I would do a solo stand at SP Arte fair with the gallery that represents me. I was seeing this as a great opportunity to show my work to a larger audience, especially curators and critics, from Brazil and abroad. With the pandemic, everything was cancelled... But we are all (artists, gallerists, curators, institutions) learning and reorganizing ourselves to understand what the world will be like from now on. It’s very clear to us that this will not be over quickly and that the changes will be fundamental, and there are many positive points in this.’’ - Brisa Noronha, Nova Lima, @brisanoronha
Would you say you feel the need to respond to this quarantine as a subject in your art?
‘‘It’s a phase that we’re going through, we feel it, we live it, we reflect it and move on, so I’d say it would come in the background of the painting but not its main focus, I’d rather focus on the faith of the life cycle.’’ - Bella El Mekawy, Cairo, @bella_bemore
What are you looking forward to doing once it is over?
‘‘Once this is all over I would visit my loved ones, spent countless hours with her/them, get back to doing what I can with my Art even if it is less and catch up on dining on local cuisines especially Chinese food, skateboard and explore cities and sketch people on transit systems (Subways Stations in Toronto).’’ - Farhan Tahsin, Toronto, @pulpvisuals