MADE IN ISOLATION

Tell us about what you're currently working on.

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Currently, I am working on a daily dance project, face masks for healthcare professionals, and mini quilts (2' x 2' and smaller).

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Has your work shifted in response to the pandemic? How?

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Making art has shifted for me... My daily dance practice has integrated a social media project #PromptResponseGroup. My friend Cristal started sending out daily prompt words for dancers and artists she knows. These prompts have helped keep momentum in my daily dance project as it connects to a larger community of movers. I just started making mini quilts as of yesterday ... they are quick and easy to make and will hopefully be more accessible to people, financially speaking, and may help me offset some of my lost income. I have more time to make art BUT the emotional drain of collective grieving and processing of this global health crisis keeps me from being deeply engaged.

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How do you think art making can help us confront our "new" reality?

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Art is the only way forward for me. It connects and unifies people. It gives me a sense of purpose, which is so important while I am out of paid work. I am filled with hope when I see other people making, dancing, creating ... art is proof of life.

 

Most of the work I make is in isolation but now, isolation has a new meaning. I am celebrating the time I have to be creative and when the days get too dark, I turn to making as a coping mechanism.

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Maggie Schneider is a Baltimore-based artist working in reclaimed textiles, street art, and improvisational dance forms. See more of her work here.