Q: How has the crisis affected your everyday life?
A: The ripples reverberate becoming bigger waves. My mind is more alert & in tune with the global consciousness. Though apart, I feel connected with my “species” & pact of fellow humans. I am anxious for positive change. My inner self thirsts for cleansing & I know this great pause is a gift, a beckoning that comes with reckoning. I do have fear too, a fear for responsibility that comes with understanding. I fear for others with fragile hearts and minds, and for the physical weak, and those on the front lines. The road feels narrow, like as walking across a high wire 937 stories in the air, and I’m wavering between fear and peace.
Q: How has the crisis affected your practice?
A: I don’t leave the house much, but I’m brewing in my thoughts and creativity. I am charged and there isn’t enough time to do it all. I should probably be working on it now… well I guess I am. The writing helps. I’ve been moved by poetry, especially Kate Tempest. I finally know what this installation that I’ve been envisioning means. And I’m stoked to get it on. The negs: teaching an online class asks for way more energy, my bench jeweler job was put on pause for a time.
Q: How has the crisis affected you economically?
A: Yes, I’ve lost a lot, my people are hurting and I’ve shared to aid as I can. I see that a valuable and honorable job is a job that is essential for our wellbeing.
Q: What is the role of culture in a time of crisis?
A: Some may think that art and culture is frivolous, but I know my duty as a creative is now more important than ever, to communicate the climate of this season, to be a voice of reason among the chaos, to stir a change in hearts & minds, to help people navigate in a compassionate & healing direction. Culture becomes illuminated, well lit in the dark.
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Name: Holly
Age: 31
Occupation: Adjunct, Bench Jeweler