Art in Quarantine: “youre muted,” the 2021 BA Thesis Show
by Clare Austen-Smith
Extended, postponed, reopened—three words commonly heard by any artist who attempted to exhibit work during the COVID-19 pandemic. As safety protocols and gallery policies fluctuated over the last year, the Department of Visual Arts (DoVA)’s 2021 BA class persevered with their thesis exhibition, mounting a stunning group show amidst the challenges of creating art in relative isolation.
UChicago Arts sat down with a handful of the 2021 BA exhibitors for a brief chat on how the pandemic impacted them and their practice, and where they think they’ll be in five years.
Jonathan WuWong
Major: Visual Arts and Linguistics
Hometown: Milton, Massachusetts, USA
What drew you to major in Visual Arts at UChicago?
I did a lot of art in high school, and I was interested in pursuing art further. While that was my initial motivation, I have come to really value the ways I’ve been pushed to think about my own practice. I now see art as a more analytical tool for myself to investigate problems or questions that I have and can’t figure out any other way. I think art has this very nice ability to acknowledge nuance without pushing a specific answer forward, and I think the visual arts program at UChicago has helped me cultivate that type of intellectual practice.
What has it been like to pursue your art practice during the pandemic?
I think it was difficult. Seeing art in person is so different than seeing it on a screen. I think having a space where I was doing all my work and not really leaving was interesting in that I could really immerse myself in a project. Overall, it also felt very isolating. The studio track was nice because we got to create this big show with other people, but I felt like the pandemic really hindered some of that social interaction.
Are there things you feel you have learned about yourself or your work you might not have otherwise?
I think that I learned that it’s good to have some separation from your work, at the very least to get a wider diversity of ideas. I know some people who can just focus on one thing and make amazing work, but for me personally, I found that when I got too immersed or caught up in the details of a work (which was facilitated by being in quarantine and not leaving my house) the work suffered and lost a lot of thenuance that I wanted.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Not really sure, but hopefully still making art.
Follow Jonathan on Instagram at @jsww.18
Hurston Mazard Wallace
Major: Studio BA Visual Arts
Hometown: Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
What drew you to major in Visual Arts at UChicago?
I was really unhappy as a Comp Sci major, and as I was taking Experimental Animations, I realized that I really liked making creative art projects. Then, after coming to terms with the fact that I won’t be making six figures right out of college, I decided to follow the path that had projects (and classes) I actually cared about. Majoring in Visual Arts also gave me significantly more control over what I wanted to make or do at any given time.
What has it been like to pursue your art practice during the pandemic?
The pandemic is an interesting creature. On one hand, I’m a homebody at heart so it just gives me an extremely comfortable excuse. “I’m going to relax and not do anything because it’s a pandemic and I can’t go anywhere,” “Times are hard so I guess I just have to do less.” On the other hand, it’s crippling. There’s this constant pressure that I’m always wasting time. It feels like you can’t communicate or collaborate with others. The things I do are mostly digital, so there’s an ease of access, but to create something, I need to be in my room working for long periods of time. It becomes excruciating to separate that work from my daily routine since I must work while constantly living in the same place.
Are there things you feel you have learned about yourself or your work you might not have otherwise?
I’ve learned that I need deadlines. Goals to work towards so that I can break that monotony. I’ve learned that I enjoy friendly contributors, to either react to or add their own humor and creativity to my work. They aren’t always necessary, but they make the process considerably more entertaining and accentuate each video.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Find me at an animation studio directing, editing, writing, or storyboarding. Or maybe I’m going hard on YouTube. Shoot, to be honest, I just have two moods: chilling, or making something. I just need to keep my hands and eyes busy, and five years is too much time in the future. In my opinion, things happen how they happen, but I really want to make cartoons and show them to as wide an audience as possible.
Follow Hurston on Instagram @Hurston.wehaveaproblem or Twitter @MrMazwall
Everett Black
Major: Visual Arts
Hometown: Fontana, Wisconsin, USA
What drew you to major in Visual Arts at UChicago?
I chose the visual arts major mainly because I was really drawn to working with my hands. UChicago’s focus on academics largely focuses on writing about writing and I found myself much more connected to knowledge when I worked with my professors on physical problem-solving.
What has it been like to pursue your art practice during the pandemic?
Not great! I found it super frustrating and hard to do. There was a constant push and pull between needing to be placed and not being allowed to or being discouraged from leaving your home.
Are there things you feel you have learned about yourself or your work you might not have otherwise?
That I am not so good at time management.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope that I'm working in design in a place where I can actually be making things! I want to eventually go to architecture school but I want to take a long time off and have a little career before I go. If I go to grad school I want to have to abandon something so it feels more dramatic.
Follow Everett on Instagram @ebabeblack
Margaret Hart
Major: Visual Art
Hometown: Ashland, WI
What drew you to major in Visual Arts at UChicago?
I was drawn to the closeness I observed between the faculty and student cohorts within DoVA, I saw an opportunity for intimate connection and community that was centered on cooperative learning and mutual uplifting.
What has it been like to pursue your art practice during the pandemic?
Art in quarantine, especially large-scale sculpture, proved very difficult until we were able to move into our studios. But, spending more time at home and walking around my neighborhood did lead me to develop a practice based on scavenging. I began noticing things left out on curbs and being discarded on trash days and started gathering objects to work with and respond to.
Are there things you feel you have learned about yourself or your work you might not have otherwise?
In the past few months, I’ve learned how much I value working in proximity to my peers. Making art before the cohort was able to be in the studios felt very isolating and different. I also learned the impact of space in my practice—being able to move around and situate objects in different settings, even just different rooms and floors of the same building—has an immense impact on how I interact with and respond to my work.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years I see myself having worked with a community-based arts nonprofit, and seeking out new connections and coalitions of artists wherever I happen to live next. At that point, I hope to begin the process of pursuing an MFA.
Follow Margaret on Instagram @mag.h.arte
Martin Girardi
Major: Visual Arts, Biology
Hometown: Bend, Oregon
What drew you to major in Visual Arts at UChicago?
My father instilled in me an interest in woodworking, and a mold-making class with [DoVA Lecturer] Amber Ginsburg expanded this interest to other aspects of sculpture. I was driven to get a job at the Logan Center shop, and exposure to more fine arts curricula available at the college made me realize I could incorporate the visual arts major into my studies under the biology major to prepare myself for my ultimate goal, a career in wildlife videography.
What has it been like to pursue your art practice during the pandemic?
Sculpture has been difficult with the limitations imposed by the pandemic; at the same time, it motivated me to explore other media relating to photography, animation, and video production. Eventually, as in-person classes resumed, I was able to work more on physical art as I made sure to spend more time in the shop and take classes with faculty sculptors.
Are there things you feel you have learned about yourself or your work you might not have otherwise?
I think that my practice—which has always largely been focused on the procedural and problem-solving nature of “making”—was in many ways enriched when I had to think more carefully about how and when I’d be able to use facilities and source materials. I feel like this further ingrained in me, as an artist, methods of rudimentary engineering.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I hope to eventually apply to a more specialized master’s program in wildlife film production, or maybe just get really into organic farming.
Follow Martin on Instagram @mar_girar