Balinese Series 2020 | elenachestnykh

In March of 2020, when COVID-19 started, I was on vacation in Bali. Suddenly flights were canceled and the island closed for quarantine. The hotel room became my art studio for the next four months until I was able to come back to New York.

I was alone and I had plenty of time to reflect on my life and listen to my feelings –– a rare opportunity to immerse myself. It was my personal story as an artist who ended up in a hotel room in another country for the duration of quarantine, but also it revealed all the universal problems that everyone experienced during that period: anxiety and fears for ourselves and our loved ones and the world at large; the feelings of helplessness, frustration, and boredom. It also was an act to cope with the situation and find a positive approach, relying on the online community, work, art, humor, support of loved ones, and self.