It is odd to write this in the past tense, but I am holding out hope that soon the global pandemic will be over and we will all see it as an historic event.
“Breakdown” was inspired and painted during the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus and subsequent quarantine in the spring of 2020. In March, society was shut down - bringing with it an upheaval of life as we knew it. Even for those not affected by the virus itself, the impact of the shutdown affected everyone, whether financially or emotionally or both.
In the beginning of the shutdown, I found it hard to to move my mind off of the upheaval and focus on completing tasks. On one particularly unsettled and unproductive day, I took a mental health day and brought my canoe (and camera) out to the Charles River for the better part of the day. I paddled, thought, enjoyed being in the sunshine, and at some points just floated. The image that inspired “Breakdown” came from this day.
The title references the breakdown of the reflection of the tree as it splinters, wavers and spins off in abstract patterns. It is about the unusual and almost unreal colors. Most of all, it is about the breakdown of societal norms, the splintering and wavering of our daily lives and the unusual and unreal situation that resulted.
