Works in Rough Going : Recovery Community and Communication During the Pandemic
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Exhibit label (TXT)7.8 KB
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- In Collections
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Creativity in the Time of COVID-19
- Copyright Status
- In Copyright
- Date Created
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2019/2022
- Artists
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LeFebvre, Moriah
- Subjects
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COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- , in art
- Material Type
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Drawings (visual works)
Prints (visual works)
- Language
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English
- Extent
- 10 drawings/prints
- Genre Note
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Pen drawing and cyanotype prints
- Exhibit Label
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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 2: 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
2 of 2: 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