Korona Coping with Camilla Taylor

There was a moment in time, years ago, that I could have bought a pillow like tentacle made by Camilla Taylor for something like 20 bucks, but I just watched that ship sail by me like a dum-dum.

Camilla Taylor is a sculptor, an illustrator, a painter, a print-maker, a scholar, a dean's list maker,  a professor, a style icon, a swimmer, an everchanging mystery, and from what I'm told, a gingerbread witch. Let's see how she's handling the pandemic!

How are you feeling?

I’m feeling well.  I’m so busy that I don’t have much time to worry.

Were you able to quarantine in the studio? How long has it been?

Yes, I’m lucky in that my studio is my detached garage, on the same lot as my home.  I think it’s funny, last year I overheard some artists at a gallery, denigrating the garage studio.  Now I feel well smug as those same artists aren’t able to access their, no doubt, very fancy studios.

When did it hit you how serious this was?

I knew it was serious when news about Wuhan hit the news.  I follow international news, but it didn’t sit as emotionally important until friends died.  I wonder who had the virus and who did not.  So few of us were able to get tested early on, and the tests were initially so unreliable.  I know some people who died because of Covid 19, but I don’t know how many.

Have you had cancelled/postponed exhibitions as a result?

Oh yes, quite a few.  And cancelled studio visits, cancelled art purchases.  Whose career isn’t this fucked up right now?

What have you been doing with the downtime? Are you able to make art right now?

I don’t have downtime.  I don’t really understand this experience people have with it.  I work much more now than I did before the quarantine.  I’m a professor, and having to transition to teaching printmaking remotely is an incredible amount of labor. 

I’m making less art now because I’m constantly figuring out what materials my students have access to, and what is remotely close to what they would have learned in person.

I don’t consider the things I make to teach as my “art” per se, as I have to make them very differently that I would if I were just making it for myself.

Are you finding any inspiration in this mess?

Right when this started here in LA, I made a series of monoprints inspired by the social reaction I witnessed.  Before the quarantine, when people were reacting to illness as though it were a fault of the sick person. Everyone glaring at the person who coughs, for instance, or my school sending out a notice that we shouldn’t come on campus if we have any symptoms, but requiring a doctor’s note to prove it (and of course, providing no medical care for part time and adjunct workers).

What has been the most challenging part of this for you?

For me, it’s the uncertainty.  I like to plan, I like routine.  We don’t know how long this will last, if we’ll be back out with our regular lives come June, or if we should be planning to teach online through the fall semester, and watch as businesses fold.

What are some of your coping mechanisms?

Being busy.  I just work, overperform on anything I need to do.  I hear from students around the country that professors are just telling them to figure it out, and here I am, making 5 carefully edited demo videos for every assignment.  I do too much, but then I don’t have any time to worry.

What's the thing/place you wish you could do/go but can't right now?

Go swimming!  Lord, I miss swimming so much.

Done any binge watching, book reading, game playing?

I’m reading through everything by Octavia Butler for the first time right now. 

Babylon Berlin (I watch it on Netflix), if you haven’t seen it yet, I cannot recommend it enough.

Favorite work of art in Los Angeles?

“Central Meridian” by Michael C. McMillen, in the permanent collection, though rarely on view, at LACMA.

Central Meridian (aka The Garage) by Michael C. McMillen

What song is stuck in your head right now?

The Mountain by Donovan

Favorite brand of toilet paper and where do you find it?

I don’t really have toilet paper opinions.  I must have a hardy bum. We did just install a bidet a couple days ago, which I am still getting accustomed to.

If you could hoard one food item, what would it be?

Fresh orange juice.  But due to its nature and incredibly brief shelf life, it is impossible to hoard effectively.

How do you think this all ends?

I don’t know that things like this do just end.  I think the weaknesses in our systems are made so apparent, that they must be addressed in some way.  This must change us culturally in some way.  I hope for the better.  

Me too, Camilla. Me too.  Thank you. Be well.

All photos courtesy of Camilla Taylor