Below each submission you can find a short explanation of the work written by the creator.
RONGKUN LIU
Linguistics, University of York
Masked people floating around a lonely cruise ship with disturbed animals in sight, a painting in brush and ink with reference to the major event in 2020.
ROSAMUND PORTUS
TFTI, University of York
A Time to be Still
Over the last couple of months I, like many, have retreated indoors. It has been a moment of stillness in my life, with trips cancelled, events postponed, and the daily activities of my life put on pause. This period of slowing down has been surreal and, at times, anxiety or fear inducing. Yet, it has also given me an opportunity to indulge in experiences which I would have never normally prioritised: revisiting old books, taking the time to experiment with new recipes, and watching the plants in my backyard wake up to the spring weather. And so, through this painting I seek to capture this moment of retreatment from the outside world, in which people have taken their work and their existences behind closed doors in a shared effort to protect both themselves and others around them.
RUI QI CHOO
Education / Language and Linguistics, University of York
Hold on to Rainbows
Rainbows have been the colourful spark amidst the darkness of the past few months in appreciation of the healthcare workers and other key personnel in the UK. However, I want to acknowledge that the rainbow has long been a symbol of hope for the LGBTQIA+ community way before this. In this difficult time where people are told to #stayhomesavelives, I hope for peace for people in the LGBTQIA+ community who are confined in homes they do not feel comfortable being in and have had to put up a front the past two months. It must be tiring not being able to be out, in every sense of the word. But there’s hope – look to the plethora of rainbows around as signs of hope. Some day we’ll get to the other end of the rainbow and there we’ll find – the lovers, the dreamers and you.
GWENDOLINE PEPPER
Archaeology, University of York
Mourn 2.2
Being an international student in the UK during a time of crisis is a strange experience. I find myself frustrated by the tension between the stillness required to control the spread of infection and the impulse to "keep calm and carry on". Collective Trauma is the phrase I keep coming across in relation to Covid-19 and this rings true. At a time like this, we need ways to find calm, but carrying on as usual is not just reckless, it robs people of the chance to mourn, something that is needed as we try to process the tremendous loss of life that is still happening around us. But not all of us are able to be still. This piece was a way for me to reflect on another source of tension: the sense of duty to stay home, at odds with guilt over being privileged enough to do so.
EMMA BRYNING
Archaeology, University of York
Throughout lockdown, I have slowly created a window display outside the front of my house. First, I made this rainbow as a symbol of hope inspired by the #chasetherainbow campaign. Influenced by my PhD research into historic and contemporary graffiti, I then created a mural quoting Maya Angelou who once said, ‘be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud’. I had one rule when creating the mural, I could only use items that I already had at home. It’s made of leftover plasterboard, markers, acrylic paint and various household paints. I then added a sign in support of key workers, ‘Please don’t just clap for them, demand fair pay for them’. These symbols of hope and gestures are important but they also need to be backed by effective support for better conditions, protection and pay. Finally, I added my contribution from an online zine workshop, ‘A Little Feminist History of Art’.