Today

January 15th-February 26 2021
CUNY York College Gallery

Emerging From Isolation: Notes on the Pandemic

Today is a work that creates space for respite and centers the significance of here and now. Before the pandemic, I refused to accept a belief in the present and held onto the constant movement of past and future. Forced to confront my rebellion against existence, I found solace in writing “Today is…” and repeating artworks containing the word “Today.” The new installation, Today, encourages reflections on the present moment and manifests a reconciliation with it.

Caused by chaos during the global pandemic my sense of time vanished at the onset of the shelter-in. Life shifted from daily human-to-human contact into computer-based virtual routines. It was during difficult moments of isolation that I clung to the present. I needed to believe that “today” existed.

Thinking about the grandeur of the universe grounded me. Important to believing in the here and now were my coordinates on the planet. I focused on my body in relation to location, latitude and longitude, the cardinal directions, and the ancestral, which are all essential elements of the installation Today.

Photo credit: Nicholas Fraser Videography: Jacqueline Herranz-Brooks Video Edit: Courtesy the artist

Ritual of Today, 2021, CUNY York College, Queens NY

The video captures a ritual performed as part of the installation of the work, Today, and reflects on memories of moments during the shelter-in-place caused by the global pandemic.