ARTIFACTS FROM THE TIME IN BETWEEN

Some years from now, we will be asked, or maybe we'll be asking "What did you do during the Covid 19 pandemic?" 

For the fortunate ones, those who survived, the responses will be as diverse, crazy, and unexpected as the virus itself. Already, people around the world are comparing coping mechanisms from the most difficult days of 2020, when everything turned upside down and forced us to look at life differently. 

History has shown that creativity surges dramatically during times like these, not only saving lives but altering our thinking processes. The human imagination offered innovative ways of being and doing. Social distancing created the increase  in online jobs, classes, conferences and more. 

Visual artists, writers, creatives of every type, may have found it a bit easier to cope. Most of us are accustomed to working in solitude, calling on an inner source that requires us to slow down and go within. It's during that withdrawal from the world, the quietude, that our muses are most likely to show up. Throughout my own sheltering in place, with my doors closed to the public, I realized I was experiencing more inspiration, more consciousness, more fluidity in my work. This was a bonus, because the main objective was simply to stay alive, to socially distance from others and be part of the solution rather than the problem.

In the beginning, I stitched and donated several dozen cubrebocas - the Spanish term for face masks - from recycled fabrics. It wasn't long, however, before I recognized that I am not a good production person; making two of the same item puts me over the edge. 

                       

Fortunately, many good citizens of San Miguel were also producing masks, and I lept back into my own work, with a series of one-of-a-kind Covid Artmasks. My friend Patricia Smith suggested the name for the collection: "Artifacts From the Time In-Between." 

As months turned into a year, I considered that the title also perfectly described all of the work I'd made in isolation. This weekend, I reopen the doors and invite friends and art lovers back to view what my "creative downtime" looked like.

 Instead of a 2 hour reception, it's more like a 3 day pop-up. And it inaugurates the return of our regular pre-Covid hours. 

Thursday, May 6 through Saturday, May 8, from 12-5 pm.

Facemasks and social distancing required.

Cool refreshing drinks served on the fresh air patio. 

La Huipilista Artspace is located at Julian Carrillo 1, in Colonia Guadalupe, the Arts District in San Miguel.