Capturing Covid-19

nadia.shemail@gmail.com — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 07:55:17 GMT

Drawing on a pandemic for creative inspiration...

It's a quirk of being an illustrator: while you will respond on a normal emotional level to any major crisis - such as an international pandemic - with dismay, sympathy and concern, the little cogs will start turning in your mind: 'How would I represent this visually?'

I started noticing almost immediately the almost cute cartoon graphics that popped up beside newspaper bylines and under television reports to graphically signify content about the virus, and I watched with interest as other illustrators turned the now iconic virus into, variously, wrecking balls, destructive waves - even a microphone! Then I too was pushed into service, with - to date - two Covid-19 cover designs for the Scottish Left Review.

In the first (Issue #117) the virus looms over Earth like a belligerent alien presence, blocking the sun and throwing a long shadow across Europe and beyond. Issue #118 they asks if we are ready to rebuild after the crisis' destruction? The virus has crashed through a brick wall leaving a virus-shaped hole (here I acknowledge the influence of Wile.E. Coyote on my early years) - but there's a bright blue sky behind it. Ever the optimist.

These covers , below, are shown alongside a personal response to the crisis, after remarking to a colleague about a 'Sisyphean task.' Here, the Greek legend is pushing a virus, not a rock, uphill - a hill that shows the 'r' rate increasing. Hopefully that particular struggle is far behind us.

Remembrance of Prints Past: Making a website during lockdown

Tue, 19 May 2020 18:37:32 GMT

It felt that lockdown would be the perfect opportunity to finally sort out a website – and it is! – but delving through even recent work has been a poignant reminder of the ‘before time,’ especially as I pick my way through a folder of linocuts, many of which were exhibited in a buzzing gallery space less than a year ago.

Unzipping that folio case unleashes happy memories of blithely swinging into Glasgow Print Studio , throwing on a recently vacated apron, and unthinkingly setting up for a happy session of printing on SHARED equipment. What innocents we were, as we carelessly rummaged through communal materials, offered biscuits to people from outwith our households, and nonchalantly compared notes at a distance of less than two metres away.

Going through my existing prints, I very much miss my ability to create new ones – I just don’t have the technical capability to work in the same way at home - but more than this, I miss the studio environment. I miss the luxury of leaving home to go to a different place which exists expressly for making art, and thinking about making art. I yearn for the camaraderie of other art makers, and the magical creative osmosis of being in the same room as hugely talented people.

I think about my fellow artists and hope they are all doing ok – physically, mentally, financially – and anticipate the day when we can, once again, share space, ideas – and biscuits.

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Capturing Covid-19

Drawing on a pandemic for creative inspiration...

Remembrance of Prints Past: Making a website during lockdown