Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic

In Collections: Creativity in the Time of COVID-19

Copyright Status: In Copyright

Date: 2019/2022

Artists: LeFebvre, Moriah

Subjects: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- , in art

Material Type: Drawings (visual works)
Prints (visual works)

Language: English

Extent: 10 drawings/prints

Genre Note: Pen drawing and cyanotype prints

Exhibit Label: Personal survival for individuals in the substance-abuse recovery community is generally contingent on regular, meaningful contact with other recovering people. Recovering addicts and alcoholics attend groups, meetings, spend time doing step-work with their sponsors and, later on, with sponsees of their own. Being highly aware of both the essential nature of these activities and the very real risk of relapse that addicts and alcoholics can face at any length of sobriety, when COVID-19 hit and shelter-in-place orders took effect, I worried deeply about members of the recovery community. What I witnessed and experienced over those first couple months of lockdown was profound and inspiring, and also painful and imperfect.The drawings in this series contain words collected and curated from text message exchanges between members of the recovery community during the COVID-19 pandemic. I paired their messages with the images that these words evoked for me when I took the time to sit with them. Text messages are fleeting and digital; they aren't meant to last. Yet during the pandemic, these pixels on screens became lifelines. I wanted to honor them, to memorialize them and commit them to permanence, deliberately and slowly. Creating these pieces gave me an avenue for channeling my fear, grief, hope, and most of all, love, for those who suffer from the disease of addiction. --Label design by exhibit curator Nancy DeJoy. Labels written by Ben Lash and his team in consultation with artist statements.

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m57h1hn68

Page Info

1 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 01

A pen drawing on a black background. A gray, metal, foldable chair sits in the middle of the piece. Text messages overlap the chair in a conversation. The message on the right reads "Such crazy times…any meetings still happening there?" on a gray text bubble with white bubble letters outlined in black. The response on the left: "Yep… no meetings here" and underneath that, "Zoom only" on a white text bubble with black lettering. The last message is on the right side, reading "Have you tried any of those yet?" on a gray text bubble with white bubble letters outlined in black. Next to the piece on the right is the name and the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m58p5zb3q

2 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 02

A pen drawing on a blue, cyanotype-printed background. At the bottom center are two mugs, one a standard, coffee mug shape and the other rounder and wider. The coffee mug is white and filled with a deep blue color while the round mug is white and filled with a lighter blue color, a tea bag floating within it. Above the mugs are text messages, beginning on the right side, reading "I think I may have had the worst dream of my life", "One of them for sure", and "I have to tell someone about it", the messages falling beneath the first one with blue text bubbles and white bubble lettering outlined in black. To the left is the single message "Tell me" in a white text bubble and blue bubble lettering outlined in black. Next to the piece on the right is the name and the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5fj2dd9x

3 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 03

A pen drawing on a black background. To the bottom right corner is a COVID mask drawn in gray and white, bent as if to resemble the shape when it is on someone's face. Above the mask in the top left corner is a text message, reading "Horribly needing to be around others and fearing them" in a white text bubble and black lettering. Next to the piece on the right are the name and the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m53r0sv43

4 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 04

A pen drawing on a white background. A gray hammer with a black handle emerges from the right side and rests upwards on its circular face. The hammer creates a skinny, black shadow on the surface it rests on. Above the hammer to the left is a text message that reads "My god it's ground hog day. But the unfunny version." In a white text bubble outlined in black and black lettering. Underneath the piece is the name and the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5sf2qd0c

5 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 05

A grayscale pen drawing on a black background. Upside down and to the right side is a large thermometer, the word "WelchAllyn" across the top. Extending from the top of the thermometer is a curly cord that leads to a thin probe at the bottom of the drawing. Overlapping the thermometer and cord is a text message conversation: the first text to the right reads "How are you feeling physically?" a smaller "Read Friday'' underneath; the conversation continues after a timeskip, "Friday 9:24 PM" in the center and below that to the left "I am up and down"; another timeskip at the center, "Yesterday 10:29 AM", and to the right "Update me?" and "Thinking of you alot"; another timeskip, "Today 12:09 PM", and a text to the right reads "Concerned", a small circle with an exclamation point is outlined next to it, and "Not Delivered" is underneath the message. Next to the piece on the right are the name and words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5f18wg3t

6 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 06

A pen drawing on a black background. To the bottom right is a white baseball with gray stitching. A singular text message is above the baseball in the top right corner. In a white text bubble with black lettering reads "Kids are catching it.". Next to the piece on the right are the name and the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5g73b53n

7 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 07

A pen drawing on a blue, cyanotype-printed background. The bottom half of the piece has a horizontal print of a single flower with five petals that overlap each other, a thin stem, and at the bottom of the stem a set of leaves that reach upwards. Above the flower and to the right are three text messages: the first, "One of my best and oldest friends found her boyfriend dead tonight from a heroin overdose"; underneath that "This disease is alive and well"; and finally "I'm so grateful you're still here with us and you're clean". Each text message is on a light blue text bubble with white lettering. Next to the piece on the right are the name and the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m53f4pp60

8 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 08

A pen drawing on a white background. At the bottom of the drawing are two tin cans, the one on the left laying on its side to show the empty inside, and the one on the right standing upside down. Connecting the two cans from their respective bottoms is a twine string that tangles together in the middle of the piece. At the top to the left is a text message in a white text bubble and black lettering, reading "Had a using dream last night and after I used I called you to tell you I relapsed". In response on the right in a black text bubble and white lettering is "Glad I was there" with a heart symbol following the message. Underneath the piece to the right are the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5tq5vf8j

9 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 09

A black pen drawing on a white background. At the bottom of the piece is a tied plastic bag bulging with water, holding a goldfish. The goldfish rests at the bottom of the bag. The bag remains on the white floor, which fades into a black darkness past the bag. At the top of the piece is a text message conversation beginning on the right side with a gray text bubble and white lettering reading "Have they moved you to the ICU?". The response continues to the left in three messages in white text bubbles and black lettering: the first, "Yea"; underneath that "It's on a Covid for, we're all in glass rooms"; correcting the error is "Floor*". Next to the piece on the right are the name and the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5f76981f

10 of 10: Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic. Part 10

A blue pen drawing on a white background. To the right side is a foldable lawn chair, unfolded for someone to sit on. Above the chair to the left is a text message in a white text bubble and black lettering, reading "God I can't wait to see your masked face". Above the top right corner of the message is a small white heart within a circular blue bubble from the receiver. Next to the piece on the right are the words "Moriah LeFebvre", "Untitled", "Ink drawing", and "2020".

Read

Extent: 1 drawing

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5416x13v