The COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges that it presents are proving to be an inspiration to many artists across the country. And now, some of this artwork is now being featured in a virtual art gallery.

Artist Deborah Guzman Meyer is a mother of three. Managing motherhood and work while in quarantine inspired her to paint a work called “Parenting.” It features a view from below a swimming pool of a woman barely keeping her head above water with her life swirling around her.

“That’s basically what it feels like to be a parent right now,” Guzman Meyer says.

The Montclair resident is one of the artists featured in the exhibit “ArtDemic” – art created since the pandemic. Some of the works depict direct reference to the crisis like the painting “Corona Beach” or “Alone.”

“But for other people, it’s more subtle and they’re reacting to what they see around them and seeing nature and looking around them and seeing what’s going on,” says i19 Gallery founder Cat Delett.

 

Artist Christina Duarte painted a self-portrait featuring herself in a mask. She says that she believes social statements made through art will help to write the history of the pandemic.

“Artists intuitively create based on what’s going on around them, so I personally feel the need to express what I’m feeling about the pandemic and everything related,” she says.

The exhibit can be found on i19gallery.com, which was created in response to the pandemic. All proceeds from sales go to the artists.