I love my studio in either two states: clean and orderly, which is usually reserved for Open Studios, or a complete mess, which is the goal most other times. Mess means work is being made, creative risks taken, ideas acted on and often abandoned. It means the work that is bouncing around my brain has seeped out into the physical world for good or bad. My studio is located in a big complex of studios in Brooklyn. During lockdown I went to the studio only once to grab supplies that I could use at home in a makeshift work space created in my apartment foyer with a French easel, clip light, and collapsible three-legged stool. I painted still lifes with found objects from around the apartment.
When the city began opening up again, I came back to the studio in Phase Three. It was scary, though. My studio mate and I set up a schedule so we wouldn’t be working at the same time. Mask rules were implemented for the common areas. I was still nervous about cleaning brushes at the shared slop sink or using the restrooms. My hands were raw from the hand sanitizers and bleach wipes used every time I reentered my studio space. The biggest struggle, however, was the work; my studio was in limbo. The paintings that I was working on pre-pandemic — landscape paintings of the Brooklyn waterfront — seemed pointless, especially during the protests for social justice. I felt stuck in my neither clean nor messy studio.
It turned itself around as the summer progressed and time spent outdoors watching my community make the most of the circumstances. Pop-up music of multiple genres played all over Prospect Park, along with theater groups performing sonnets on demand and kids summer camps, all being responsible with masks and distancing. It was inspiring. The human spirit had broken through and made the most of the situation and it was lovely. Seeing the canoe club on the Gowanus Canal kicked me back into gear, and I started working on landscapes again, and I also kept the still lifes going, and I wanted to do a little screen printing and there is this light box painting thing I’ve been thinking about. My studio is a complete disaster zone right now and I love it.