Covid19 Interview - Carolyn Watson-Dubisch

The bigger the project, the greater the distraction.

In this interview with Mexico-based American sculptor and author Carolyn Watson-Dubisch talks about letting her art distract her from bad news and take her into new projects. Carolyn’s art residency at Green Olive Arts in 2016 was focused on building a paper mache model of Tetouan’s medina with moon and stars overhead. That installation is still enjoyed by children daily in its new home at Jacinto Benavente elementary school in Tetouan. This post is part of a series of interviews with former Artists in Residence at Green Olive Arts asking how this season of social distancing and postponed cultural mobility has impacted them.

Green Olive Arts AiR Interview with Carolyn Watson-Dubisch

Carolyn, how have you had to flex or pivot your art practice in this unprecedented season of home confinement? What are you currently working on in your studio at home?

I did have to put some projects on hold due to the situation, including a series of murals I was scheduled to work on at a children’s home. The children were to participate in the process so obviously this was not something we could do during this time. I am still making and selling my masks online. I make costume masks like animals, robots, monsters, flowers, etc., not the surgical kind everyone is scrambling to keep around. I am also focusing on creating my webcomic for kids, “The Dragon in The Closet“. I started writing and drawing it in the beginning of 2019, but I was never able to find the time at home to get all the digital coloring and lettering done to launch the project. Fortunately that’s not a problem anymore and I launched the series about last month. I’ve also rereleased 2 of my other comic series online “The Horribles” and “The People That Melt in The Rain”. Both are for kids and teens.

A recent mask project

What does creative community and/or social sanity look like for you right now? How are you staying connected and grounded?

Earth Day 2020 chalk art - finished - Carolyn Watson Dubisch

Earth Day 2020 chalk art – Click the image to see the video!

I’m participating in online events to stay connected to the arts communities. I created a large chalk art mural for the Virtual Chalk art Festival for Earth Day and even created a time-lapse.video for it. I also did a mural for the Reston Public Art Stay at home chalk event, and created some small paintings for a project called “The View From Here”. I painted my neighbor’s coconut tree that I could see from the balcony and posted them on twitter with the suggested hashtag #theviewfromhere, then the Elisabeth Jones Art Center in Oregon contacted me and asked to include the little paintings in their “Pandemic Show” so I shipped them off right away.

As for staying sane and grounded, I focus on my writing and illustrating of “The Dragon in The Closet.” Having a big ongoing project is wonderfully distracting!

What insights about creativity in a time of crisis can you share with other artists? What have you been learning?

Art and writing has gotten me through everything in my life so far, including the challenging years when my kids were very small. This is not that much different. It’s important to have distractions from all the bad news that flows in constantly from the internet, especially Facebook. I have learned that the bigger the project the greater the distraction. So focus on that one project you never thought you’d have the time to finish!