Far Away / So Close

In March 2020, the world shut down. My artist income vanished overnight. Exhibitions canceled. Gathering spaces closed. Like everyone else, I was trying to figure out how to move forward when everything felt uncertain.

I worked with what I had access to.

The surfaces came from the brewery across the street—chipboard from their shift to curbside crowler pickup when the taproom went dark. My color palette changed as I ran out of materials and couldn't easily replace them. Each painting had to be completed within two days of the conversation that inspired it, with only a few layers of acrylic before the chipboard buckled under the weight.

The conversations themselves happened over Zoom and FaceTime—old friends and new strangers, talking about what we were living through. I translated those interactions into abstract paintings: line, color, shape, energy. My writing is novice at best, but it became the bridge between the work and the viewer during a time when there were no openings, no in-person gatherings, no way to stand in front of a painting together.

As each piece was finished, I brought it to Great River Arts in Little Falls. We hung them one at a time in the windows, so people walking by had something new to engage with—a QR code linking to the conversation, the video, the story behind the work. The exhibition unfolded slowly over three months, piece by piece, visible from the sidewalk.

We were all trying our best to figure out this unprecedented time. This project was my way of staying connected—to my practice, to my community, to the belief that art matters even when (especially when) everything else feels like it's falling apart.

Far Away / So Close is about making do, staying human, and finding new ways to be close when distance was required.