Virus Ring Making, One Artist's Response to COVID-19
“Forgive me Hivers, for it has been 6 months since my last blog post!” Oh my, is this a crazy, surreal time or what? The planet is on lockdown, the virus is in charge, we are sequestered in our homes, things are just so strange.
On March 1, I made my first Virus ring. It began out of frustration and anger when our president called the rising pandemic a “Hoax." However, it soon turned into a way to help make sense of the problem and allow me to creatively process, not panic and get hands-on with my frustrations and fears. “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.” -Sun Tzu
I began by researching the virus, how does it work, what does it look like, how could I make a model of one? Then I really got into it, looking for found objects around the house that I could use to create virus inspired designs. Some of the materials I found useful were, Captain Crunch Crunchberries, cloves, rice, plastic beads, 3-D pen, wax, and more. In all, I have made about 25 virus ring designs to date.
I have been sharing my virus experiments on my Instagram account, @silvebeehivestudio, and have been getting some great responses from folks all over the globe. I found that I was not alone in virus-art making.
The creative process is one that requires curiosity, wonder, and observation. My virus experiments lead to the use of the 3-D pen that had been sitting on the shelf unused for close to 2 years. The 3-D pen extrudes a thin plastic ‘wire’ that begins as a flexible fluid but quickly cools and solidifies. Experimenting with this tool on the virus designs lead to other ideas and I started using it to create new surface textures and design elements for use in other silver ring designs.
This lead to another group of work that includes 3-D pen elements. The first batch of these have already been cast which informs the next generation of designs. And so the creative process goes, jumping from one rock to another in the brook, sometimes slipping and falling in, but then noticing something new and following where it leads.
I sincerely hope that you are able to find a silver lining to this time and can follow your curiosities and wonders. Stay safe, caring, and positive.
-Mit
Joana
Thank you for sharing your process! In your previous post about lost wax rings you mentioned you would be sharing how to finish the rings after casting. Did you ever make a post about that?