Through the use of collective imagery and the rich history of quilts as items of comfort, storytelling, and reminders of loved ones who are not physically present, I seek to explore the idea that we are all isolated, together.

Though we have all been enduring this experience of a global pandemic together, I think we are still blanketed by this pervasive feeling of being alone in our struggles and the complexities of “the new normal” of day-to-day life. In addition to bringing to light the very real current mental health crisis, I encourage the community to explore creativity as a valid means of improving mental health through the therapeutic act of art making. This collaborative art installation invites you to create your own artistic “quilt square” centered on YOUR experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The centerpiece of the Installation is my mixed media painting, “352 Degrees of Isolation.” This painting represents my personal experiences with the pandemic. It’s about feeling totally alone, minus eight specific things that kept me from feeling completely encircled in isolation– one of which was creating and sharing my art. The canvases themselves are a series of squares and right triangles, arranged in the pattern of the Friendship Quilt Block. This traditional quilt pattern was typically sewn in secret and given as a parting gift for friends and family to remember each other by. When the painting is installed, the canvases are hung with an inch or two of spacing between them, with the overall effect that the image is slightly exploded apart– almost starting to become abstracted fragments of its former whole.

Welcome. ❤ I’m glad you’re here.

You don’t have to consider yourself “artistic” or “creative” in order to participate. Here are a handful of examples of squares currently part of the Installation: