Part of a Series Reflecting on Covid-19
In 2021, while preparing an exhibition on Covid-19, I shared a few largely abstract drafts and sketches. Windows were already a recurring motif, though in those works they had a more inward-looking character. The responses helped me think more clearly about the subject. Thank you!
Abstraction remained central to the project, but I wanted to try a more realistic approach as well. In some ways, that seemed harder: how could I suggest an unseen threat, isolation and withdrawal without relying on obvious references such as panic buying or syringes?
This is my second attempt at the same motif: a window in an old country house, a small part of an apparently idyllic scene “where the world is still all right”. Solid stonework suggests strength. The shutters promise another layer of protection. A light from nowhere falls across the window, almost like the beam of a torch.
Outside this seemingly protected world, the painting is restless. Indefinite forces on the right and almost floral forms on the left invite the eye to wander, yet also carry a faint sense of unease.
At first, I considered using the familiar microscopic images of the virus more directly. Their striking colours and structures had become part of our visual memory, but to me that approach felt too obvious. I also abandoned the idea of a human silhouette behind the window.
The painting has flaws, and I may make small corrections once I have gained some distance from it. Still, the underlying idea seems worth pursuing because it reaches beyond Covid-19. We retreat behind solid walls, hoping to keep new challenges outside—or to avoid having to face them.
For me, that also raises questions about the appeal of politicians who promise protection and a growing reliance on security. How much protection do we need, and at what point does it become withdrawal?
I had also been reading about how much time children spend indoors, including in cars. That thought may have helped shape the painting too: a sheltered interior can be reassuring, but it can also narrow our contact with the world outside.
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