ABSTRACT
In the context of the global pandemic, people find themselves isolated from one another in a way they never have before, deprived of human connection, physical interaction, and full ability to express themselves. This chapter explores how individuals could find new ways of reconnecting in a time of widespread self-isolation through engaging in artistic practice, more specifically modelling for a portrait. Normally, the act of having one's portrait painted can be a very intimate, bodily experience, through which both artist and model can get to know one another as they engage in prolonged and close interaction. What happens when this process has to be done via online means? And when it focuses on expressing self-isolation specifically? In practice, this project involved the researcher painting a set of portraits of individuals in poses that express how said individuals feel about being self-isolated and living through a time of global crisis. The process of painting and the finished product were used as a means of starting a set of in-depth, discussion-based interviews on topics of self-reflection and self-identification during a time of crisis, thus allowing for in-depth, emotional, and bodily expression, even as researcher and interviewee cannot share a space.
