Hang the Papers

Life under self-quarantine (paired with a flexible work schedule) has allowed me to create for the sole purpose of creating. This is something I believe becomes rarer and rarer the older we get— especially growing up in a society that praises profit, production and hustle culture. I can’t help but think that this time of a forced change of pace, no matter how terrible the circumstances causing it, could be revolutionary for awakening our artisan soul.

This concept was born out of the fact that I have always wanted to do a bathtub shoot and, in the more recent days, have been slowly crumbling under the weight of the media. News, advertisements, social networks, all of it. I was sick to my stomach watching the death toll rise and rise at the end of each day. I was tired of guessing which numbers and sources were accurate. I was done with the graphics on Instagram telling me what I “should” be doing with my quarantine time. I was (and still am) terrified of the fact that my boyfriend is working at Target when many places are choosing to close their doors to the public. I’m scared for the safety of my Italian friends— just to name a few things.

As an enneagram 1w2 accurately named “the activist,” I tend to take other people’s problems and make them my own. And when everyone in the world is facing a problem way bigger than they ever could have imagined, well, it makes my heart ache uncontrollably. It makes me heavy. And I want it. I want the problems— and I want to do everything in my might to make them a tad bit smaller.

I think we have an obligation to be informed about what is going on, and I hope to be someone who shares as much good news as the not-so-good.

For this concept, I drew my creativity from the not-so-good. But you’ll notice that despite everything we’re hearing, it’s Spring. And there are flowers lining my neighborhood streets. And that makes me hopeful.

So, what do you do with this concoction of emotions?

You tap your sister on the shoulder, grab a lighter and some bush trimmers, and ask mom if we have any newspaper.