Working in Isolation: One Artist Shares How the Pandemic has Shifted Her Work

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Written by Cathy Breslaw

June 11, 2020

Most artists work in relative isolation.  Our collective art practices and the creative process demands it. It goes against the human urge to congregate and socialize.  Still, we persevere as the ‘call to create’ nudges us.  We then deliberately make space – intellectually, emotionally and physically for the act of creation. We move forward quietly, with intention and faith in the process. Never have artists been more aware of isolation than time now spent alone in this Corona Virus pandemic environment. It is not our choice, but as artists we are familiar and in some ways ahead of the game in our familiarity and relative comfort with loneliness of self -containment. This “Working In Isolation” series aims to highlight how artists are adapting and how their work has evolved as a result of the pandemic. Read more articles in this series HERE.

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Artist Raphaele Cohen-Bacry shares her experience with making art during this distressing and complicated  time.

1) How has your work shifted during the pandemic? Has it been a change in the process of your creating art? The mediums you use? The themes or concepts you are thinking about?
I am a mixed media artist in Los Angeles and I have not had access to a proper studio for several months since Covid started here. I was already working on collages but I have intensified this practice with the resources I had at home. When I started to run out of supplies (I was regularly getting auctions magazines from my friend and gallery owner Louis Stern and from wallpaper showrooms), I started to explore video again.  This is something I always wanted to push but I was busy with painting and collages.  So I am now developing a series of short minimalist videos that showcase “creativity with no budget”.  I keep most of them under a minute as I believe this is just the right length to convey my messages and keep people interested.  In times when we are bombarded with images from all sides, often agitating and violent, my intention is to turn the moving images to my advantage and bring something fresh to the medium. During the lock-down my videos got more and more unconventional and poetic,  unsettling in the way that the images do not necessary match the sound, intentionally.

2) What have you discovered about yourself as an artist during this pandemic?
I discovered that I can still practice and push my creativity even with very little resources. I also understand how  everything affects and influences my work but that it thrives no matter what. I discovered what is the most important  for me, after so many things have been taken away: developing my practice and translate my views of the world in any ways possible.

3) What have been your biggest challenges working in isolation? Surprises?
I used to constantly go to see other artists works, attend talks and lectures and connect with a lot of artists or people who work with artists. Hence the first weeks were very unusual and unnatural and it was almost impossible to focus on my art. It seemed pointless. But then calm settled in and I started working again, with no other purpose than to go inside and find something unique and personal to expose.

Are you an artist who’s work has evolved significantly as a result of the pandemic? Please submit your work to Cathy Breslaw at [email protected] for consideration as a featured artist in the Working in Isolation series: Please be sure to write “Working in Isolation” in the subject line.