The Path, The Tunnel, WCP

In Collections: Creativity in the Time of COVID-19

Copyright Status: In Copyright

Date: 2019/2022

Artists: Manna, Constance

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

Material Type: Paintings (visual works)

Language: No linguistic content

Extent: 3 paintings

Genre Note: Acrylic on canvas

Exhibit Label: The lockdown had me in an awful place both creatively and personally. People I knew were suddenly dying. Lifelong friends were unable to hold funerals for their deceased loved ones and had to grieve alone without friends or family to comfort them. For a long time, I felt as empty as these images. I was asked to participate in a show and had to create new pieces. As the deadline loomed, nothing came to me. I started looking through the sketches I had made just prior to lockdown and it occurred to me that this emptiness was the perfect way to express my experience with COVID. "The Path," "The Tunnel," and "WCP" are acrylic paintings borne of the desire to express my feelings about some of the places people would frequent before the lockdown. These images are grim reminders of a world we took for granted; a once popular walking path, a trainless tunnel, and the shadows of performers on an empty stage playing to no audience in the Westport Country Playhouse (WCP). --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/m5gh9fb2p

Page Info

1 of 3: The Path

An acrylic painting of a pathway, with some areas shrouded in darkness and others illuminated in light. The pathway is surrounded by walls and is partially covered by a roof that resembles the wavy panels of a tin roof. The walls and floor are a light gray with faint blue and red undertones. The areas where the roof covers the path are reflected black onto the ground, and the areas where there is no roof show the lightness of the ground. As the path continues into the distance, it turns white with outside light.

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Extent: 1 painting

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m59p3070w

2 of 3: The Tunnel

An acrylic painting of an empty train tunnel. The platform to the left, before the train tracks, is painted in a gradient so the edges are black and the middle is white. Before the tracks is a thick yellow line that separates the deepness of the tracks from the platform on both sides. On the wall of the platform to the right are red, yellow, and black posters that reflect onto the ground of the platform.

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Extent: 1 painting

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m50p10s0h

3 of 3: WCP

An acrylic painting of an empty theater, looking down to the stage from the balcony. Several rows of red seats are in the foreground, and there is a brown railing at the edge. The left and right balconies are angled towards the back, with gold-trimmed red draping along the base of the railing. The backdrop of the yellow, rectangular stage is dark and framed by a wooden proscenium arch. Drifting onstage are the shadows of performers.

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Extent: 1 painting

Permalink: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m52808051