Emma Davidson
Life in Lockdown
When the coronavirus pandemic reached the UK, I decided to record my impressions, thoughts and feelings, as well as the effects that coronavirus and the lockdown has had on my neighbourhood. Everywhere around Parson's Green, there are notices telling us what to do to keep our social distance; shops and cafes are closed; schools and churches are empty; the White Horse pub, usually a hub of activity, is silent. Parson's Green, the nearest green space to my home, has markings at its main entrance to warn people to keep two metre apart. I enclose some of the photos I have taken of my neighbourhood showing the ways it has changed under lockdown.
Everyone's world has changed so much in such a short time and the main feeling everywhere seems to be fear. I've tried to represent this feeling in my collage,'Waves of Fear' (collage: paper on paper, 70 cm x 50 cm) which shows the waves rolling across the paper to confront the viewer. I chose the yellow tones because fear is also linked to cowardice (when people are yellow-bellied for instance). Fear is something we've learnt to be ashamed of in our modern world. You are not meant to be fearful and, if you are, as the famous how-to book by Susan Jeffers tells us, we should "feel the fear and do it anyway" ('Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway' by Susan Jeffers, published by Ebury Publishing). In my collage, I also wanted to create some of the sense of movement I found in Mary Spears' collage, 'The Waves' (26" x 72" collage on canvas).
'Waves of Fear' by Emma Davidson (collage: paper o paper, 70cm x 50cm)
Nearly everyone is feeling fearful. I wanted to portray fear as something that hits us with great force. Most of us feel fearful if we are in a situation we cannot control and the pandemic has left everyone in that situation.
I've been reading the papers and watching the news much more since the pandemic began. I've become more concerned about how our country is run and what the government is doing to protect us during this pandemic. The lack of PPE and other equipment and the government's failure to track and trace the virus have led to some terrible repercussions, including unnecessary deaths. This is why I created my collage,'Repercussions' (collage: paper on paper, 70 cm x 50 cm), showing how quickly one thing can lead to another and spread into many different areas. In a pandemic, these repercussions can easily lead to situations of terror and death, like the spread of the virus in retirement homes. The NHS was sending old people back into their homes, after they had caught the virus in hospital, and so spreading the virus and infecting many others.
'Repercussions' by Emma Davidson (collage: paper on paper, 70cm x 50cm)
The terrible deaths that have occurred in great numbers are only one aspect of the pandemic. Related to these are all the mourners who have lost husbands, wives, children, friends, workmates and partners. In my image of the mourner ('The Mourner': a combination of pencil drawing and collage, paper on paper, 70 cm x 50 cm), I wanted to show the isolation that this also brings. No one experiences the death of a loved one in quite the same way and now people in mourning cannot be comforted by the hugs and close contact of their families. Many families are in separate households and cannot meet up. Funerals cannot be held in the usual way and close friends and relations often have to speak to their dying loved ones via social media, with no physical contact allowed. I wanted my mourner to be an isolated figure alone at the grave to depict a feeling of loneliness and grief.
'The Mourner' by Emma Davidson (a combination of drawing and collage, paper on paper, 70cm x 50cm)
I'm also aware how closely linked the whole world really is. The way the pandemic has moved from one country to another shows how closely we are all connected. It also shows how one danger can threaten us all. I found myself thinking of the virus as a sort of enemy alien which had come to infiltrate and attack our world. That's why I've portrayed the virus as a threatening alien in red and black, the colours of danger, although the real virus is always portrayed in more beautiful, subtle shades. My painting of the virus, 'Enemy Alien' (acrylic on paper, 70 cm x 50 cm) shows it coming out of a white space as a strange unknown alien, which threatens us all.
'Enemy Alien' by Emma Davidson (acrylic on paper, 70cm x 50cm)
During the lockdown, one form of escapism for me has been watching 'The Simpsons' and becoming involved in their imaginary world. I wanted to portray the Simpsons as they appear in the cartoon, as bright, colourful and full of life ('The Simpsons', collage: paper on paper, painted in acrylic, 70 cm x 50 cm). I also wanted to show them not as a group but as separate entities floating in their own space. I have made the acrylic colours as garish as possible, like the originals by Groening.
Works in progress
Detail, from page of drawings (pencil on paper 70cm x 50cm)
The paintings of my drawings
Drawing see above, painted in acrylic on paper
The final development of my work
Collage of paintings (see above) paper on black paper (70cm x 25cm)
The larger of these two self-portraits (below) is my final piece. I want to present myself as an eye-witness of the lockdown but also someone who is constrained. That is why my mask is an important feature and my eyes are looking out over it with quite a wary look because of the unseen enemy, the Coronavirus. I changed the tilt of my head so my eyes look more directly at the viewer. I want this to be a personal portrait but also one that anyone can identify with. This is why the only key features I have emphasised are my eyes and the mask. Like the gas masks in the war, these masks will always remind people of the lockdown and all the strange events which happened at this time.
I want to use my journal to witness what is happening during this pandemic: how it is affecting the people around me and how I am reacting to everything in the outside world and in my own inner world. Like most people, I have been trying to find places of peace and comfort. One source of comfort for me has been nature, particularly the plants on our terrace and the views of the sky. Like a lot of people, I have noticed the beautiful blues, pinks and oranges of our skies, which are much clearer, now that there is less traffic and the air is less polluted. I have also found inspiration in the children's art I have seen in the windows of homes around me. Their art is full of hope, particularly the ones with brightly coloured rainbows. These paintings also show the children's awareness of the pandemic and their feelings of thankfulness towards the NHS and other key workers. Their art reminds me of Hockney's faux naive prints, which I wrote about for my dissertation. I enclose some of the photos I've taken of local children's art. These are all a sign hope for the future when this pandemic has passed.
Rough plan for my layout for my exhibition
Text for a possible flyer for the exhibition (illustrated with my large self-portrait). This could be posted through doors of homes in Fulham:
"Come and see this exhibition of Fulham in lockdown! I am a young local artist and I'm presenting my impressions of our neighbourhood during lockdown; my artwork is accompanied by a diary and photographs of local sites during this historic time. Everyone is invited to join in this event, which celebrates our community. Visitors can add their own eye-witness accounts to the exhibition diary. This exhibition will be held at... on... (place, date and time of exhibition). Everyone is welcome!"
My Conclusion
During my final project: 'My Life During Lockdown', I have gained a lot of knowledge about myself and my environment. I have looked around my neighbourhood at the changes which the lockdown has brought about. I have also followed the news on television and in the media as our lockdown has developed. I have read articles in the press about the effects of lockdown on other young people, including students like myself, and on older people, who are more at risk from coronavirus. I have also considered other aspects of lockdown and the effect of coronavirus on our society: the isolation; the separation of families; the fears in our community, including the fears of loneliness and death; the concerns about loved ones and the grim reality of mourning in isolation. I have taken photographs to show the many changes that have taken place in my neighbourhood during this time and the way we have been controlled by notices regarding our behaviour and our ways of relating to one another.
As well as researching the ways the lockdown has affected our society and my neighbourhood, in particular, I have analysed my own reactions: my increasing awareness of my isolation; my sense of losing the life I had before lockdown, my awareness of nature and how comforting it has been to sit out on my roof terrace and enjoy the plants and views of the sky. I am also aware of my sense of fear. I have tried to find different ways to depict these aspects of lockdown in my art through collage, drawing, painting, cartoons and photography. I feel I have improved my technical skills throughout this project and I have found simple but effective ways to depict my thoughts and feelings. For example, I have used black and white photos to create the sense of loneliness and isolation in my neighbourhood and colour photos to provide the sense of hope which comes from the children's art and my appreciation of nature. Like most people, I am hoping that soon lockdown will end and we will return to a more normal way of living but, perhaps also a better one, because many people, like myself, will have had plenty of time to reflect on our values and our way of life. I know I am dreading the return to a polluted London where the beautiful colours of the sky may be covered in a mist of smog. I am also aware I may not hear the birdsong which has been so loud and clear when London is once again filled with cars and other traffic. Lockdown has shown the new working generation, like myself, that there may be better ways to live and to work than we have experienced up to now.
After gaining as much information as I could from the media and my own research into my local neighbourhood, I decided on certain aspects of lockdown that I would like to depict: my inner fears and feelings; the terrible repercussions which have taken place in hospitals and elsewhere because the right PPE and equipment were not provided by the government in time; the sense of mourning and isolation; the joys of nature and children's art; my own awareness of the ways in which the lockdown has affected me and how I have witnessed a small part of it. I have drawn myself in a mask with my nose and mouth covered but my eyes free and able to witness everything around me. I have taken photos to provide evidence of some of the changes in our neighbourhood and how our behaviour and our relationships changed during lockdown.. This is the research and enquiry part of my project and also the way I have tried to communicate my theme, using my technical knowledge and by experimenting with different media.
I have taken photos to show how I have created my artworks, particularly such as with the Simpson cartoons, showing how I developed them from the drawing, through to the painting and finally the collage stage. With my artwork, 'Mourning' I used the black cut-out of the mourning lady and then drew the grave beside her. I wanted the grave to be drawn in pencil so the cut-out of the lady stood out because she is the main symbol; the grave is just the setting but it shows the lady is mourning a loved one. In contrast to the brightly coloured cartoons and the collages, I wanted the self-portrait to be drawn in pencil so that the black mask stands out and the viewer is aware of my eyes. I am showing myself as a witness of an historic event so my eyes are the most important feature in this drawing. I feel I have chosen the right media for the different aspects of lockdown which I want to depict and I have learnt a lot about decision-making; choice of materials, size of image and use of colour and black and white throughout this process.
In my journal I have provided some reflections of our lockdown situation given in the media but my main source of information is my own walks around my neighbourhood and my analysis of my feelings and reactions during this time. I hope I have managed to communicate these to my audience and that I have provided the right context, sources and arguments to back up my impressions of my life in lockdown.
I am aware that I could have portrayed my lockdown world in any number of ways but these are the visual ideas which inspired me and I hope these convey some of the feelings and impressions I have had throughout different stages of the lockdown. First, like many people, I was consumed by fear and I felt my world was falling apart and every mistake which the government made was causing worse and worse repercussions. Later, I learned to find a means of escape from my worries and to become involved in the virtual world and enjoy the cartoon world of The Simpsons. I also learned to appreciate the natural world: to look at sunsets; the different plants and to watch the wild animals in Fulham, like the birds and foxes and insects like the bees and butterflies which have now become a much more prominent part of our world, without the distractions of large masses of people and traffic. I feel I have given quite a balanced view of different aspects of my world and I have presented this through different media. I have achieved most of the outcomes I hoped to achieve with this project, although I am aware there are many more ideas I could follow up if I decide to set up an exhibition around this theme some time in the future. I would like to organise an exhibition for the local people in my area, if I can find the right place to do this, and I will have a diary so the people in my neighbourhood can write down their memories of lockdown and their comments on my artwork.
