Tag: Step two

Closed But Close

Primavera con firma. La quarantena di Carlotta

Testo e immagini di Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati.

 

Credo che la vita dell’artista sia una vita meravigliosa e libera: priva di orari e obblighi, se non quelli legati ad una forma di disciplina mentale prima che fisica. ‘’Finalmente’’ si è fermata la vita caotica, dandomi la possibilità di dare spazio al mio vero io e alla mia natura, sola con me stessa.

 

Grafica E Illustrazione
Linee che formano una chioma, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati
Città 23
Città 23, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati
Sbadiglio
Sbadiglio, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati

 

Le figure spesso ricorrenti nelle mie illustrazioni sono gli animali, che rappresentano amore. Amo il mondo animale, in particolare i cani, perché mi donano benessere interiore e consapevolezza di essere intimamente compresa.

Questa sensazione magica l’ho provata per la prima volta con Mayla, un pitbull che è stato il mio primo cane e che purtroppo oggi non c’è più, ma che mi ha lasciato una preziosa eredità: quel senso di complicità e appartenenza che arricchisce la vita degli esseri umani.

 

Senza Titolo 23
Senza titolo 23, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati
Cvbf
BUBBLE, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati
La Donna Che Amava I Colori
La donna che amava i colori, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati

 

Leggere nei suoi occhi l’amore puro, la fiducia incondizionata, mi ha aperto nuovi orizzonti e mi ha arricchito di sensazioni speciali che inevitabilmente si manifestano nel mio mondo personale e artistico. I cani hanno una sensibilità istintiva, un’empatia che permette la creazione di un legame che va oltre la comunicazione verbale, oltre persino al contatto fisico.

Anche la natura è spesso raffigurata nelle miei illustrazioni, questo perché mi da un senso di libertà. Durante la fase di quarantena la natura si è riappropriata dei suoi spazi, gli animali sono tornati a muoversi in libertà e persino il cielo sembra più blu. Il mondo continua a vivere.

 

Contagious (1)
Contagious, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati
Primavera Con Firma
Primavera con firma, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati
Grafica E Illustrazione
FROG, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati
Mentre lentamente ci apprestiamo a tornare alla normalità, in quello che è uno dei momenti più duri che l’umanità abbia vissuto, è importante riflettere sull’impatto che le nostre azioni hanno sull’ambiente e su quello che rischiamo di perdere se non cambiamo rotta.

Immagine di copertina: Closed but close, 2020, Carlotta Egidi, tutti i diritti sono riservati.

ATTENZIONE: La redazione di Pequod Rivista si mette a disposizione di chi vuole raccontare la propria quarantena creativa oppure l’esperienza della fase due: inviate la vostra proposta a info.pequodrivista@gmail.com
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Quarantine With My Parents

It’s been nearly eight weeks since I started quarantining now, my social distancing endeavour having begun slightly earlier than the official lockdown.

I have had extra time on my hands during these weeks, enjoying what has felt like some sort of early retirement experiment. I have taken great pleasure in how the days have stretched in front me almost worry-free, and in the feeling of safety I’ve had in these weeks. Yes: my experience of the lockdown has been very different from that of so many others.

While the world has been turned upside down, and outside in, by the pandemic, I have enjoyed stability and calm for the very first time. Growing up a migrant child, as I did, can in fact instil a peculiar and long-lasting sense of un-safety, both outside and inside the family home. It certainly did for me.

 

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Rainbow near our house, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved
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Swans in Syon Park, 2020, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved
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A row of houses on one of our walks, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved

 

Outside, because many things in the world are unknown or feel different from what you know, you are misunderstood and misunderstand often, and there is so much that is or feels hostile in your surroundings. Inside, because the solitude of migration creates tight bonds among those that live through it together, but can also engender deep resentments and wounds.

The psychological and emotional effects of migration outlive the actual experience, and often undermine the feelings of safety you might be able to build later in life. Life in the outside world is hard, and the place where you find comfort is also at times where you might find anxiety, anger and profound sadness.

Money tends to run low in migrant households, and there is often nobody external to lean on for support. You have to be a parent without the help and knowledge of previous generations, without the comfort of your life-long habits and friendships. You have to be a child without the presence of your larger family and as much as adults try to shield you from family struggles, without ever really being carefree.

 

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Food we’ve cooked during quarantine, 2020, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved
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My mum’s pizza, 2020, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved
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My mum’s apple cake, 2020, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved

 

I was caught by the pandemic in what started as a temporary living arrangement at my parents’ place. Our household has migrated twice, most recently to the UK. Our family’s situation is different now from what it was in the past: money doesn’t run as low anymore, we have reunited with some of the larger family, and we now have good networks of support.

By some funny trick of life, at the age of thirty the lockdown has given me what feels like a second chance at childhood. It has provided me with the opportunity to spend generous amounts of unstructured, unexpected and relatively carefree time with my parents: a rarity in adult life.

Countless days over the last few weeks have felt like childhood weekends, minus the frustration of adults at having to take on all the chores, and the resentment of children at being bossed around. As we planned activities and meals together, we have deeply missed my sister, who lives abroad. But I have had the precious and new experience of spending quality time with the people whom I owe my life, in a situation of physical, economical and emotional safety.

 

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A basil plant we’ve revived during quarantine, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved
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Basil blossoms, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved
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Basil flowers, 2020, Sara Gvero, All rights reserves

 

It does feel unfair that I should have had such a positive experience of quarantine when so many people have fallen ill, have lost loved ones, and are struggling with the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic.

I hold these contrasting feelings in the palm of my hand and I observe them. I am not trying to resolve the contradiction, as such attempts have always failed me in the past. What I can say, is that I am aware every day of the combination of privilege and sheer luck that we have had: so much of the former has been acquired so recently that I have not yet learnt to take it for granted.

Family can mean many things: mine is made up of my blood relatives, but also of the people I have invited in it along the way. What it has never meant is easy, and I would be lying if I said that’s the case now. But the opportunity to spend quality time with my parents as an adult who is able to take care of her own needs, as well as of theirs on occasions, has been priceless.

 

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Travelling to work with gloves on pre-lockdown, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved
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Syon Park, 2020, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved
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Family shopping, 2020, Sara Gvero, All rights reserved

 

I have been able to have conversations with my parents that are free of the need that they meet my expectations of them as their now adult child, which had been the case in my early, and sometimes also late twenties. I have been able to put down boundaries that I wouldn’t have dared to attempt when I was younger.

And, among the difficulties this situation has engendered, I have had the opportunity to get to know them much better, outside of the grief, longing, loneliness and practical worries that overshadow our past.

Many people, maybe most, don’t get second chances at building a positive relationship with their families, and the pandemic might take forever away this possibility for some. For the time I have been able to spend with my parents, and the strengthened bond I now have with them, I will be forever grateful.

 

Cover image: Mum smelling flowers on one of our lockdown walks, Sara Gvero, All Rights reserved

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