How has this pandemic affected you and your creative output? How are you adapting to the new realities?
It’s doubtful anyone will remain unaffected by this global pandemic. Within my own small world I have had to contend with three cancelled or postponed exhibitions, some of them years in the making by their organizers. I find that I do not have the concentration to carry on as usual in my studio. I have been playing and experimenting with new mediums and quirky ideas that in normal times I would have told myself I don’t have time for. It’s quite a liberating feeling.
Please share any insights you have learned from this “lockdown/self-isolation”? Also, is there a special role you feel artists can play in response to the pandemic?
Everything is in limbo. Time seems to stand still while simultaneously speeding up. When I wake up, I have plans for what I want to achieve for the day but before I know it, the day has escaped me and it’s time for a glass of wine on the deck. I’ve been more connected with people than ever. I have not been inspired to create art specifically in response to the current situation – I think that will take time to percolate. But I am very much enjoying what artists are posting on Instagram. Their posts excite me, make me think and laugh. Human creativity offers the world a glimmer of hope. It is eternal.
A short video about what I was working on for an exhibition that had to be postponed.
How do you think this will affect artists, the art world and how people interact with art? How do you feel this crisis might reshape our societies in general?
Even more than the worry of infection or the sadness and horror that images of swollen hospital units produce, I find myself more and more concerned about what will be ‘after’. I strongly believe that what the world is experiencing will fundamentally change our societies and many of the cultural habits that have endured for centuries. I am already mourning for the carefree way we lived, but at the same time, we may learn to re-calibrate and live more mindfully and tread more carefully on this planet. I feel pessimistic about how the art world will recover. Art is seen by most as a luxury, and in hard times, those involved with the arts will be the first to be affected.
Lilianne Milgrom is international artist and writer on the arts that has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows around the world. Her work can be found in private and institutional collections throughout Europe, North America, Australia and in the Middle East. She holds a BA and DipEd from Melbourne University, and has studied at the Avni Institute and the Academy of Art - San Francisco.