Gina Alexandra Denton

Multimedia Artist

"For me art has always served as an escape and a personal coping mechanism, and I think in this reality art will serve the same purpose for many."

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently making hand-painted wearable and non-wearable soft sculptures made from whatever I have at home that are inspired by the viral and microbial world. This isn’t a new theme in my art, but the pandemic brought me back to the imagery from my past drawings and sculpture work and shed new light on it.

Has your art making shifted in response to the pandemic? How?

Before the pandemic I was focused on a body of wearable art called “Future Femme“ made from steel and textiles. The studio where I do my metalsmith work is temporarily closed for as long as we are not allowed to gather in groups, so my work has shifted back to what I can make at home which is fiber, soft sculpture, anything I can make with fabric, a sewing machine, paint, markers, pencils, and paper.

What is the role that art can play in helping us confront our new reality?

For me art has always served as an escape and a personal coping mechanism, and I think in this reality art will serve the same purpose for many. I predict many non-artists will have to turn to their creative sides as all of us are challenged to look inward and learn to introspect. Many non-artists will also have to learn to think more creatively to patch together new ways of attaining income streams. Having a creative practice can aid in this type of practical creative thinking that aids our life skills.

I also predict a rise in memento mori in the art of the coming decade, and I see my current work as a form of memento mori ... little reminders everywhere that the chaos of nature is what ultimately brings our death.

Gina Alexandra Denton is a multimedia artist focused on craft form in fiber, and jewelry and metals. She lives in Baltimore. See more of her work here.