Inspiration from a Pandemic

Finally, 2020 is over! Good riddance! Though 2020 was a year filled with hardships and the brutality of life smacking humanity across the face a couple of times, there were some good things that came out of it. For example, people learned not to take things for granted and a lot of people learned more about themselves as they stayed indoors. In this case, one of ACP-E’s sophomores, Alexis Coffey, won 2nd place at the East Valley Jewish Community Center (EVJCC) and Chandler-Gilbert Community College (CGCC)’s art competition. The art exhibition, based on the Covid-19 quarantine, “Stuck @Home, But My Imagination is Free” was open to East Valley students in grades 7-12. Her artwork reflected on her life and other people’s lives during the pandemic and how it was affected. Here’s what the artist has to say!

Q: How did the Covid-19 Pandemic affect you personally? Maybe even mentally?

A: The pandemic had kind of an odd effect on me because I felt really relaxed and stir crazy at the same time. On one hand, I was relieved to have no finals or deadlines, but I also lost a lot of structure in my life. For a while it was hard to motivate myself to do anything remotely productive.

Q: What did you learn about yourself during the quarantine?

A: I learned that I’m a lot more introverted than I thought and that I can do some really cool things; I just need to get up and do them. The piece I drew for the competition was just one of the things I did to fill my time. The biggest thing I learned, though, was the sheer amount of time I spend staring at a screen and how little I actually got out of it.

Q:What different aspects of your life during the quarantine affected your artwork?

A:  I didn’t have anywhere I needed to be and I didn’t have anywhere to go, either. I was spending like ten hours a day on my phone, which was just awful, so I started doing a lot more art than I usually did. I got really into simplified or more cartoon-like styles of drawing and I got pretty good at working with pen, ink and markers, which were new mediums for me at the time.

Q: If you could rewind time to the early months of 2020 (Jan-Mar), what would you have done differently?

A:  I would tell myself to get off my phone and do things. Honestly, there was so much free time and I really wish I would have spent the early months of the pandemic/lockdown better. I definitely would have told myself in January that the entire world would go on lockdown for months, because I could have improved a lot more as an artist if I had focused on that more during those months.

Q: Do you think you grew emotionally and mentally from the quarantine?

A:  I think I did. I definitely got more patient and understanding towards others because everyone was going through so much at the time. I also think it was really good to have a real break where nothing was expected of me and that kind of helped me reset my motivation to improve overall. I think it really helped me realize just how much time I have in the day, how much time I was wasting, and what I really should be and want to spend my time on.

Though it is a new year, the threat of Covid-19 is still lingering so please stay safe, social distance, and wear your masks! Remember Knights to strive for the impossible and be extraordinary!