For the Bulletin
The new open art exhibition called “COVID-19 Unframed” is up in the gallery at Centre 64 and in the online gallery and online shop until January 30th. Some artwork was created with a COVID-19 theme in mind, and some was just created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Let me share some information about a special COVID-19 art project that’s particularly cool and involves crazy dolls (who doesn’t like those, right?!).
About The Dolls – by Andrea Revoy
The experience of making these dolls during the first COVID-19 lock down in April 2020 was one of challenge, fun and connection. It was challenging to add on to someone’s work, to let go of judgment and fear and just create, but never obscure the work that came before. The results were outrageous, ridiculous, fun and more than the sum of the parts.
Based on the “Exquisite Corpse” game fashionable in the 1920’s and 30’s, we each took a turn adding to the “dolls” that each of us had made. For example, Round one, we each made a doll body and head, out of any material we wanted, exchanged and then each person added predetermined parts, exchanged again and then embellishments are added until all four of us had a turn with each doll.
Round two we each designed hips and legs before passing them on for more predetermined parts and then the last person added the embellishments.
Round three, we each made four sets of predetermined parts and then had a mystery exchange for more parts which we then had to make sense of while trying to assemble and then embellish to bring it all together. Trying to make random body parts fit together was probably the most challenging aspect and the embellishment the most fun.
The only parameters that we had was that it had to fit in a shoe box, materials and objects had to come from our stash and each doll had a 72 hour quarantine after the parking lot exchange.
We connected with laughter and early morning cocktails during our FaceTime calls, physically distanced, strange parking lot rendezvous, and also while trying to figure out how to connect the doll parts! Having a creative outlet helped us get out of bed, do our hair and have something on the calendar to look forward to. As a result of this collaboration, the four of us feel a lot closer as friends with a better understanding of ourselves and each other than we did before COVID-19.
You can pay these 12 amazing dolls a visit in the gallery at Centre 64. We’re open Tuesdays through Saturday from 1 to 5 PM.
