Nandan Nair

Art amidst crisis…

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Over the centuries, history has been preserved through multiple forms and mediums, with one very prominent form being art. Many moments in history have been depicted and immortalized through countless paintings, murals, and statues. Keeping this in mind, I thought that in such unprecedented times, what better way to keep a memory of this time than through a painting?

This painting portrays looking at the world, symbolized by a globe, in two different time frames: pre-Covid19 and post-Covid19, split into 2 canvasses.

The left canvas depicts life in 2019, before COVID, with a pot of roses, a shelf with a “2019” frame (indicating the year) and a vase. The main focus is the window frame looking out to silhouettes of a man flying a kite, a girl sitting on a swing, and a woman pushing a stroller. These are meant to symbolize socialization and freedom of movement. I also used a large variety of bright colors to give the viewer a feeling of happiness, and further emphasis that this frame represents life before Covid.

In stark contrast, the painting on the right depicts life after Covid19, with the pot of flowers knocked over, it’s flowers wilted, in addition to a broken shelf, with the “2020” frame knocked over and cracked (to both indicate the time and symbolize how this year has collapsed, metaphorically) and fragments of a broken vase.

The main focus of the piece is the window frame, which is now covered up with wood saying “out of order” to indicate that socializing and such is now not possible, and in theory out of order. The man who was flying a kite in the happy painting is now sitting on the floor, dejected, with his kite on the ground. The man and his kite also symbolize regular life, and both being on the floor add further symbolism in the sense that life has been ruined, to a certain extent, because of coronavirus. This is emphasized even further with the coronavirus molecule arching over the entire painting, indicating its influence and power over society. I also used more muted, dark tones to indicate dullness and melancholy, counteracting the happiness in the first painting.

The whole painting is capped off with a lightning bolt in between the two (as suggested by my art teacher), as a means of adding tension to the overall feel of the painting. Overall, I am very satisfied with the final product, and I think it will serve as a very good memory of this crazy time in our lives in the years to come. I also want to thank my art teacher for giving me some very good advice on how to improve it and helping me get it to the point it is at now. Let me know what you think.

Over the centuries, history has been preserved through multiple forms and mediums, with one very prominent form being art. Many moments in history have been depicted and immortalized through countless paintings, murals, and statues. Keeping this in mind, I thought that in such unprecedented times, what better way to keep a memory of this time […]

So, what do you think ?