Creating art in times of isolation

From Samuel Beckett to Frida Kahlo, many of the great artists, writers and musicians thrived in solitude, writes Cathy Buckmaster. Could their work inspire us as we isolate?

While confined to our home to work and self-isolate, it’s easy to feel unproductive and lethargic—like the world and our lives are passing us by. However, we should take solace in the fact that many of the great artists, writers and musicians thrived in solitude. 

Frida Kahlo’s chronic pain brought her social isolation for much of her life. She is famously quoted as saying: “I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone.” After contracting polio at age six, she was seriously injured in a bus crash while at school and decided to take up painting during her long recovery. She used a bespoke easel so she could work from her bed and an overhead mirror to paint what would become the first in a long series of self-portraits. 

Samuel Beckett wrote a novel in virtual isolation—as a member of the French Resistance, he had to flee his apartment in German-occupied Paris in the 1940s. Beckett and his partner ended up in a town in the southeast of France, which, being both remote and hard to access, was the perfect place to hide from the Gestapo. It was here, while in hiding, that he wrote his book, Watt.

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Isolation has also benefitted those musically inclined over the years, from Cross Road Blues by Robert Johnson (1936)—of which 16 songs were taped while he was alone at the Gunter Hotel in San Antonio—to Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago (2008) which was written, recorded and self-released in his father’s hunting cabin in Wisconsin woodland.

What art will come of our current conditions, under Coronavirus-imposed isolation? Well as it turns out, some has already been produced and published online.

Painting
As a respite from the news, David Hockney—who is in lockdown at his house in Normandy—has shared 10 of his most recent images in a BBC exclusive. According to reports, Hockney was originally interested in Normandy because it offered a broader range of blossoms. Some of his thoughts are also shared: “Why are my iPad drawings seen as a respite from the news? Well, they are obviously made by the hand depicting the renewal that is the spring in this part of the world."
See all 10 images here

Illustration
Global news organisation Politico asked artists to draw life under Coronavirus and the results did not disappoint. From New York to Tokyo, Berlin to Sardinia, they conscripted dozens of artists from around the globe to create a piece of art about what they’re seeing and feeling while in isolation. There are quiet sketches, like Aleksandra Stanglewicz’s drawing of her sitting on the couch with her dog in Warsaw, looking for new commissions. There are also comic illustrations like Ann Kiernan's graphic vignette of trying to social distance while queuing in the supermarket (“where personal space is seen as an invitation for line-cutters”). Sweden’s Ricardo Tomàs creates a clever illustration involving the shape of a virus and a crossword puzzle.
See them all here

Photography
The Guardian has a photo essay dedicated to Doortraits, “the coronavirus lockdown answer to the portrait”. This stark but of-the-time series by photographer Jim Barker was taken of Australians across a week in March 2020. He aimed to capture a series of portraits, which observe the etiquette of this isolated and contact-free life. Subjects include DJs and burlesque dancers who’ve lost work and parents getting to grips with homeschooling multiple children.
See the Doortraits here

Short story
The New York Times is producing an ongoing visual diary—Art in Isolation—that comprises visual art and writing. One of the nicest pieces to come out of it was a short story about recovering from alcoholism and coping with sobriety while confined to the house. Entitled Recovery in Isolation, the graphic story begins with the ill-fated thought: “I expected sobriety to be easier when I was forced to stay home…” and goes on to detail the difficulties encountered during this strange period in time.
Read the full story