WHY

I found myself struggling to make sense of my new pandemic-reality. It’s easy to forget how fearful we were of this virus. I set out to invite people living in Redhead to share their own experiences because I was acutely aware that we were living in the middle of a historically important time and that many of us were struggling. I began making images with locals, asking questions and gathering insights. The pandemic extended and lockdowns returned the following year, so with the help of Hannah, we created this very cool, large scale poster. We wanted to reframe the stories from 2020 in an uplifting way for the community.

HOW

Local online community groups were used to invite people to participate. I met with participants outside their homes under the guise of ‘exercise’. I walked the streets daily, documenting visual references throughout the suburb that marked this unique time in history. As 2021 brought another lockdown, And Then created a large-scale paste-up that was installed using wheat-paste on a brick wall in the center of the suburb.

AND THEN

We find ourselves living our lives tied to our homes in this beautiful place…again. Can you remember our first unscripted pause? Remember when new words, new rules and strange circumstances shifted everything? Despite all of it, the new rhythms, the complexities, the confusion, the isolation, the wild ups and down, we continue to find ourselves trying to make sense of it all. And then this visual narrative of community was created, a gentle reminder to appreciate our common ground and diversity despite it being wrapped in the time and space of COVID.