Ottawa artists are finding the drive to stay creative, even though COVID-19 has delivered a devastating blow to the Canadian arts community.
Katherine Takpannie is an Ottawa-based Inuk photographer, who lives with her baby son and immunocompromised father. For Takpannie, art has always been a creative hub for her emotions
“Lately, I’ve found that I want to live in those feelings and express them, because with all the stress in my life, it’s getting a little dark,” she said.
For Takpannie, quarantine has not only prevented her from showcasing her work in gallery exhibits, but it is also an experience of loss.
“My friend’s mother actually passed from COVID extremely recently,” Takpannie said. “She battled it for three days before passing, and now living with my baby and my father, I’m extremely aware of how concerning it is for the world to be opening up again.”
While Takpannie has slowed down her artistic endeavours during quarantine, she said her artistic inspiration is thriving.
“I saw this article that was talking about how dealing with this pandemic is kind of like dealing with the stages of grief and I had some ideas around that,” Takpannie said.
“[I’m] wanting to come out of the pandemic and share my feelings — kind of grieving our old life,” she added.
Takpannie is not alone in allowing anxiety to fuel her work. Ottawa-based mural artist, Dominic Laporte, expressed the financial stress the pandemic has on his work, since the majority of the jobs he had lined up for the summer have been canceled.
“The pandemic has made me realize how vulnerable a career this is, even more so now than it already was,” Laporte said. “With a recession coming, living off my work will become harder than ever before.”
Laporte also said his biggest challenge has been trying to find different ways to push his work and create opportunities.
“My artwork and practices are my identity. I am an artist,” Laporte said. “This is what I do for a living because this is what I was meant to do, and I know that.”
Despite facing challenges, Laporte used his time during quarantine to complete a mural alongside the Vanier Parkway, in collaboration with the Vanier BIA, as a tribute to healthcare workers fighting against COVID-19.
“My motivation to continue has been by seeing this as a time to improve my skills and my technical abilities in art,” Camille Houde, co-president of the Carleton Visual Art Club, said.
Taking the club online by providing a group chat for members, Houde said remote artistic creation has added a whole new dimension to the club by increasing accessibility, enabling the use of online skill-based art resources, and allowing members to share pictures of their artwork.
“Coming out of this, I learned to be easier on myself when it comes to my art,” she added. “Because I think being able to just draw when I’m comfortable and not pushing myself will be something I continue to do post-pandemic.”
Houde’s newfound philosophy of artistic balance is shared by local drag queen Adrianna Exposée, who said it has been nice to explore her identity outside of drag.
“Now when I’m in drag, I feel like I’m in drag, like I’m in my element, but I also know that when it’s done, it’s done, and I can take it off,” she said. “I didn’t have that before, which I think is why I didn’t have any sense of balance or relaxation.”
“I’ve developed a much more healthy relationship with drag, and so now when we go back to reality, I’ll try my best to hang onto that as much as possible,” she added.
While Exposée took some time during quarantine for self-reflection, she hasn’t stopped trying to create her own opportunities. She said she is expanding her social media presence and planning to produce a web series.
“Everyone has found their way back to their passion during all of this,” Laporte said. “[Artists’ resilience] is special because of the message it sends — that art, whether it be music, visual art, dance or film, got us through a very tough time in our lives.”
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
