Claire Morris-Wright: The Path Project

The work of Claire Morris-Wright is based on reflections and responses to the environment that surrounds her. To create this work, she uses a wide range of different media including ceramics, painting, textiles and printmaking. In this article, she expresses the conflicting feelings and difficulties of being an artist during isolation.

"My story is that of an artist in lockdown amidst beautiful countryside. I live in a small village - close to fields, forests, and open countryside which sounds ideal... perhaps? However, since lockdown I have lost my part time job, planned teaching, and the various proposed projects associated with my current practice. I have also lost access to the print workshops where I make my work, and along with that, access to other artists. The Women Artists Support and Mentoring group I set up has also missed meetings (zoom not quite cutting it for some members), and my residency grant applications have had to be shelved. Despite this, I have not applied for hardship money from ACE or other funding bodies as I feel a moral imperative to prioritise, step aside and acknowledge that the funding is finite, and that some artists have sole reliance on ACE funding for their incomes which I fortunately do not.

As someone who makes their living in the arts, it has also been frustrating to not always feel creative, knowing that total dystopia is playing out worldwide. I am plagued by questions: What role can or does an artist play during a pandemic? How can I fit in and what does this mean for the long term future and funding of the arts? These questions whirl around, echoed by other artists. At the same time, I see online accounts of boundless creativity and artists revelling in the delight of time and isolation. All this can make me feel isolated at an even deeper level as I don't have my usual contact with close artist friends to normalise my worries and concerns.

To counter these feelings, I return to the path walking regularly for balm, for soothing walks, for distraction and uplifting moments and weather. I am currently researching a hidden path in the woods behind my house which was laid in 1940s as part of an airfield, nature has taken over and the concrete has deep cracks which hold moss, primroses and new life with layers of lichen spreading over the slabs of concrete. It is the power of nature and the seasonal changes that I am watching, recording and making works from. Creativity will return, but until then I acknowledge that we are all as artists affected in many ways during this catastrophe and it will no doubt continue to inform our practice in some way, whether deep, slight, or even subliminally."

You can see more of Claire's work by visitng her website, or following her on Twitter and Instagram.

CuratorSpace are currently featuring articles by artists, curators and organisations who want to share their experiences of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, whether that is artists using their practice as a way of exploring new boundaries of isolation, or as a way to connect more broadly with their communities. We are also interested in hearing from curators and organisations who are offering support to artists and audiences during this time.

Contact us at louise@curatorspace.com to share your story.
 

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