2020 found me — a relatively new parent — grappling with isolation and the sudden loss of community alongside intense familial strain. Confronting neoliberal issues around productivity, momentum, and desire in my caregiving and creative work, slow new wave was born out of honouring these difficult times and conversations.
Engaging in playful gestures with my toddler, our limbs in concert and afloat in darkness — grasping, raising, straining. The tensions in our bodies reflect the holding of space for rage and sorrow as I and others strive to make sense of the cascading, systemic crises that continue to grip us, be it in public health, policing, or climate justice.
This work found inspiration in the words of others from books, podcasts, and personal exchanges — particularly Tricia Hersey and The Nap Ministry — while making sense of personal and collective emotion. In gathering ideas around justice and liberation, I found a distinct hope striving for a better and kinder way forward.
Located at West 12th Avenue & Arbutus Street during summer 2022, Vancouver, BC
COVID-19 has magnified and deepened all of the social, health, and economic inequities of our society, and art-making is an important way to respond creatively to this moment. slow new wave is part of Platforms: We Are Here, Live (City of Vancouver Public Art) which commissioned 23 Vancouver-based and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) artists grappling with the issues revealed by a still-unfolding global pandemic.