Homebody: Dystopic Utopia
Shwe Shwe African material, Cyanotype prints
Dimensions variable
2020
This work was inspired by experiencing lockdown during the COVID 19 pandemic.
Having recently relocated to London and shortly after that going into lockdown due to the pandemic, I wanted to create an artwork that reflected the feelings and limitation of this situation both experientially and materially.
In the beginning of lockdown in London there was a scarcity of goods available in the supermarkets and all other shops were shut. We were only allowed out once a day for exercise and for a maximum of an hour - we were not permitted to drive anywhere.
Social distancing was implemented, and we could not stand within 2 metres of anyone else.
As the pandemic hit London the mood in the city became very dark.
We were confined to our homes and a place that previously been a refuge and escape from the routines of school and work and the outside world became the entirety of our worlds...
There was very little escape. Our homes became our microcosm.
In an attempt to find space and hope I looked for light in the darkness. I took to walking at dawn so as to avoid too many people. I documented these walks and each dawn break. The light of the dawn became a symbol of hope, another day survived.
Venturing out especially at the time of the peak of the pandemic it felt as if I was venturing into a Dystopic world however once I was out the imagery of the dawn seemed to reflect a Utopia. It felt that my body became the lowest denominator of isolation. As I passed a person in the street it became normal to step away and isolate oneself from the other person. The weight of isolation seemed to be evident in one’s body. Drifting through the world the body became like home/dwelling but also in a sense a prison.
As the pandemic progressed the monotony of each day took hold and the desire to venture out became harder and harder.
In this work the use of the Cyanotype photographic printing technique was intended to reinforce the importance of light and sun (it harnesses the sun to expose the photographs and I did this in my garden at home).
Homebody plays with the concept of somebody who wants to stay at home alongside capturing this sense of bodily claustrophobia.