Volume: Picturing Lockdown Collection: Artists' Submissions - Malaika Kegode

Description

The Picturing Lockdown Collection was created during April and May 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This group of five images, representing the South-West region, was created by the artist Malaika Kegode over the course of five days, to represent her experience of the lockdown. Alongside her submissions, the artist wrote the following to describe her creative approach to the project:

"Whilst this period of lockdown has brought out the best in some of us, it has also triggered paranoia and a deep seated urge to police each other. The demands to stay at home have been understood differently by different people, and those who are most staunch about the regulation have tended to be those who have the privilege of space - people who have gardens and multiple bedrooms. Thousands of UK residents are locked down in small flats with limited outside space available, where a daily walk is integral to their physical and mental health. My approach to this project is to juxtapose the cramped environment of a one bedroom flat - the darkness and stillness - with the vitality of the spring countryside nearby.

There is something to be explored in this being such a time of new life and rebirth in the natural world whilst we are losing friends and family in unprecedented numbers. My approach to this project will look to these experiences, and how trapped we all feel whilst beautiful things are happening outside our windows. I will also look at how we make do and mend - those of us from working class backgrounds who have lived through periods of uncertainty and monetary drain are in a unique position of being able to improvise and create, making the most of the smallest spaces and the tightest budgets."

Content

This is part of the Sub Series: HEC01/036/02 Picturing Lockdown Collection - Artists' Submissions; within the Series: HEC01/036 Picturing Lockdown Collection; within the Collection: HEC01 Historic England

This Volume contains the following materials:

Photograph (Digital): 5

Rights

© Malaika Kegode