Letters are my way of truly communicating my emotions and thoughts with others. Throughout this pandemic, many of us (including myself) have lost meaningful in-person interactions with one another and instead socialize entirely through Zoom rooms with muted mics and cameras off. In between two glass panels, I envisioned my project centering around a letter formatted the way I've written many before it (with a wax seal and messy cursive written inside). Painted on the glass panel, the letter is seen in the middle of a laptop screen on a Zoom window with the typical muted microphone and turned off camera. A hand is painted from “outside” the laptop screen reaching in as if passing the letter, and another hand will be painted from within the screen trying to receive it. This is all achieved with two custom made glass panels held together by clear screws to allow room for the physical wax-sealed letter within, and allows for visual depth. 

 

Within the letter is typically the written note, and I want to showcase that in this project as well to reflect a meaningful experience I’m sure many others have had to deal with in quarantine. Written in the note, I decided to write to my parents, who I dedicate this project to for always supporting me in every endeavor I choose to take, but may not know how much I truly appreciate them. It’s hard to always express gratitude toward family, and even harder to convey emotions through a screen. I want this project to be reflective of my comfort with letter writing but also my willingness to push my own boundaries with visual art by painting and expressing the contrast of connecting over Zoom with connecting through other mediums such as snail mail.