My Quarantine Landscapes

This article presents an art-based personal inquiry into my experience of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. I used drawing as a way to document, process and regulate feelings during the lockdown. I revisited these drawings over the course of the following year, engaging with them through imaginative dialogues and creative writing, and looking for patterns to make meaning of them. This inquiry highlighted themes of existential issues around death and life, longing for connectedness to nature and other humans, and the toll of home confinement on the lived body. I reflect on how artistic inquiry helped me approach an anxiety-provoking situation with curiosity, become aware of existential issues that the pandemic had brought up and treat them with intentionality and authenticity.