One of the best things about pursuing a BFA in LA is the wealth of visual stimuli wherever you go. In the past, I’d drawn inspirations from a nicely plated dish, an abandoned liquor store, and an interesting dialogue with a stranger. In this city, ideas float in the air, but ever since shelter-in-place was announced, artists have turned to other sources for their creations.
Now, I make work in my bedroom, where the walls seem to be closer to me than ever, and the desk is shrinking by the minute. I made drawings, paintings, animations, and ceramic work. This room. This room where I do my homework, call my friends, complete my at-home workouts, has also turned into my studio.
I recently read the essay “Living in an Inhabited House” by Sophie Delpeux, which discusses an artist’s experience with working from home. Studios have always been “a solitary retreat from the demands of society, sanctuary for private creation, metaphor for the individual artist, metonym for his psyche (storehouse of images and site of encounters with the unconscious).” According to this quote, the studio is crucial because it offers a place for art and art only. In the white-walled studio, there is nothing but the artist’s work. I do miss the space and focus, but creating in my room feels like unlocking a little treasure box and seeing things for the first time. I was always able to see my bedroom, but I never looked.
So, when my whole world was consolidated into a luggage the size of my LA apartment, I started looking inwards for inspirations. I found little gestures within the corners of the room, I found textures that I wasn’t aware of before the confinement. Beyond my room, I watched old movies, attended artist talks over Zoom, and studied old family photographs. In addition, I finally found confidence in consulting contemporary film and music for ideas. Those pictures and songs, like the walls in my room, are so close to me that they have fused into part of my identity.
It is often in adversity that artists learn to adapt and think unconventionally, and quarantine has proven itself as one of those moments.
