Process | Pandemicaportal

Phase 1- Building a Concept

Participant's Introductions

Avocado-Jellyfish
Mango-Cat
Respberry-Octopus
Pomegranate
Ginger-Sea Lion
Ripe Orange-Chamelon
Orange-Housecat
Puffbal Mushroom-Squirrel
Apple-Horse
Asparagus shoots-Octopus
Kohlrabied-Skittering Crab
Pineapple-Panda
Orange-Zebra
Coconut-Turtle
Raspberry-Bear
Tomato-Lion
Apple-Cougar
Carrot-Chameleon
Artichoke-Praying Mantis
Peach-Tiger
Mango-Elephant
Strawberry-Octopus
Poppy Seed Strudel-Platypus
Onion-Panther
Broccoli-Crab

Participant's Hopes for this project

What questions have been floating your heart ?

Internally/SELF

What/who is essential?
WTF am i doing with my life, and why do we all work so obsessively?
what do i really really love doing?
How am I going to deal with my anxiety and/or depression?
How am I going to love myself instead of hating myself?
How am I going to keep busy?
What is my purpose during this time?
How did I change during this time?
What things did I learn?
Am I safe?
What I’m really supposed to be focusing on during this time?
When will things feel safe again?
What really matters in my life?
To practice self care and love for myself even when I feel desperate to do something makes a difference?
What is the deeper lesson in all this?
What is the transformation required of me as I walk through this portal?
What are the essentials that really matters to me?
Do I like who I am at this point of my life?
Am I enjoying enough and making the most of my time here?
Who am I going to be after all this ends?
How other's feelings and experiences are affecting/ impacting me?
How do I emerge from lockdown with a deeper sense of self and truth?
Who am I when I am largely removed from the interactions and expectations of others?
What do I want to keep from this time?
What matters to me?
Why am I forced to be alone when all I wanted for my new life was to connect with new people? Am I going to stay this thin/think? What can I grow here?
How will my future progress? what will it look like?

Relationships

who are we without each other?
How do I continue to connect with people being physically distant?
When will I be able to see my family that live abroad? When will I be able to hug my family that live close?
What is it that our children and future generations are going to inherit post pandemic?
What are the real connections?
When can I get to see my family and love ones again?
Am I capable of taking care of a baby?
What kind of coping mechanisms do I have that I can lean on to help me through this?
When will I be able to see my children and my grandchildren?

Community

how do we emerge?
How can communities be more interconnected? Especially across race.
What is going on? How will things change? Will they be good changes?
What will happen to vulnerable people?
Is there an authentic community care or is it selective to certain bodies?
How will this pause serve us?
Will we learn from this?
What is really happening around the world?
Are we acknowledging the inequities that are being faced in this moment?
What is my work?
Is human kindness going to grow and spread between each other or people will become more selfish and egocentric because of this lockdown?
How deep are we connected to each other?
What can this time out of time lead us to? What do I/we really need in our lives and what can we leave behind as this resolves?
How can we make a difference in the outcome of this pandemic, and at the same time be mindful of being kind to ourselves and the collective trauma we have experienced?
How can we insure essential workers will be safe?

Systems/Institutions

is it the begging of the end, or a wake up call to ignite positive change at a global scale?
When will capitalism fall? When will equity be the norm?
The pandemic has revealed what we have known all along. Inequities are more clear than they were before for those who couldn't see them. How do we keep shining a light on these inequities?
we have all been stripped of our routine, so what's our purpose without society's control and influence
Will we harness this moment for change or go back to what felt comfortable for some and unjust for others?
What is going on?
How something that small can shake us this bad?
Is it just me or everyone was living in a rush?
How is the world or the new normal going to look like?
What forces of power and privilege are at play in my life?
How power and privilege impact how I live/listen/use my voice/stay in love to myself and others?
Will we be creating a better world out of the uncertainty or will be fall into complacency?
If I was a sustainable future, where we spend more time building solutions than criticizing each other, should I shift my career in that direction too? Where should I go in my career?
Are the currents I see emerging in our culture around joy, mindfulness, non-violent communication, artistic expression, self care and community care, speaking from the I--are these enough to tip the balance toward a world of consensual relationships and sustainability?Is this the beginning or is this the end?
How can we share the resources of the world more equitably?
How can we pay essential workers more and ensure safe working conditions?

Culture/Values/Spirit

What do humans need?
how are we interconnected?
whats the meaning of lif? whats the meaning of death and why are we all so disengaged from it?...
How can we tear down the heteropatriarchy and the three pillars of white supremacy (Andrea Smith)
How is it easy for some people to resort to eugenic styles of thinking in regard to older people, people with disabilities, addictions, are incarcerated, or who are not housed?
What is indispensable and important?
What is Mother Earth trying to bring to our consciousness during this time?
What is dying and how will it service us?
How can Indigenous cultures, elders and healers become our teachers as their wisdom is what we need right now?
Is there a future for human kind?
What is the shared humanity of all of us experiencing lightness and darkness at the same time?
If the pandemic is a portal, what is on the other side?
How do I want to live, really? We can't go back.
How frágil we are as humans?
What "normal" will be after this?
What's the real lesson behind the coronavirus that we need to learn as human beings?
Is this an evolution?
How come everything changed on a blink of an eye?
What is the relationship between my work and my identity?
Why is this happening now?
Do I still want a child in my life?
What is the relationship between joy and compassion?

What stories do we need to share to the world?

LAYING DOWN THE BULLSHIT

Stories of laying down our pretenses and performances and bullshit and laying bare our humanity.
That individualism is terrible.
Stories of how we humans can see the negative impact we are creating in the world.
The inequities, colonization, racism and oppression that is happening also needs voice in this moment.
Stories where people speak truth to power. Stories where power is centred in the voices of those who are more at the margins.
Stories that challenge the idea that the previous status quo was "good."
But also like, what are the stories that were pushed aside or willfully ignored in order to maintain the status quo, to "win" or be "successful," that perhaps keep people from having their needs met or being able to be celebrated as their full beautiful colourful selves?
The stories of the inequities that have been exacerbated and/or revealed during this crisis.
We complain because of our temporary isolation. What about migrants who are detained and in permeant situations oflockdowns? The fact that native and black co. are more hard hit because of the pandemic speak of the need to improve the health conditions for all peoples especially the marginalized.

LOVE & RESILIENCE

stories of love, of honoring and reconnecting with our deepest values, stories of surrender and sacrifice, stories of service on how to evolve towards a more compassionate species... a more responsible, decent, loving, tender human…
Stories of resiliency, hope, from our elders, personal perspectives from everyone, deep listening, connection
Stories of survival during this time. stories of struggle and resilience.
Positive stories of how we have dealt with mental health and what are we doing to be healthy. How are we struggling with mental health, addictions, problems (economic or other)?
Coping with the situation. Feelings. Funny stuff to look forward.
I feel it’s important to share how we are experiencing this time together, alone, happy, sad etc Uplifting experiences Painful experiences
We need to share both the light and darkness. The moments of collective action and compassion that are emerging from one another.
Stories of what became possible because there was transformation, either in an attitude, belief, system - how was the turning point used to create equity and justice. Stories of what is dying.
how important it is to love yourself, my realization as been especially heightened during this quarantine.
I think we should share the loving kind outcome of all this lockdown, but also express the fears and questions we are all experiencing right now. At the end, I think the whole world is realizing how connected we are, at what level, and how vulnerable we are as a human race when it comes to other's experiences.
Stories of connection, of possibility, of openness and celebration.
Stories of strength. The older you are the more stories of strength and resilence you have to draw on.
The success stories of people surviving and doing positive things for our community.
People who knew isolation before this and are watching the rest of the world catch up.

URGENCY

That all people are intrinsically valuable and not because of what they are able to produce to support capitalism. That I need to do more to combat racism.
Stories of Indigenous traditions for being in right relationship with the land and Mother Earth. Stories of how the Earth is healing rapidly as we pause. Stories of how we can live more simply. Stories of connection with our inner selves is correlated with the healing of the world.
Stories of sharing economies and networked ways of living. Stories of hope that are more potent than the new of fear and scarcity.
In my opinion it has to be all positive message and happy stories I know life is not perfect but we've been flooded with bad news lately and we need more positivism and light at the end of the tunnel
Exploring what really makes humans come alive and how we can live more deeply connected to our aliveness and its intersection with other people and the earth.
Wild socialist/communal futurisms
Imagination is being wasted on figuring out the "normal path in life" during a metaphysical hurricane hitting humanity. Those who self sooth with planning are burning them selves week after week trying to plan life in a container that is not fixed nor is the form fully realized. It's painful to watch and more painful to live through. Thinking 1, 3, 6, or even 12 months ahead seem like an invitation to self inflicted torture.
It would be amazing to inspire those magnificently and uniquely brilliant minds out there to think far into the future and build up details that offer possibilities we can collectively work towards and individually innovate in our mental laboratories..
WE CAN SLOW DOWN. Work less. Earn less. Consume less. Experience each moment more.
Also all the things we can learn from nature: adapting to our surroundings, communicating to support each other (myceleum!!), tipping points (when enough water drops fall on a leaf, they eventually converge in a stream; or water evaporating once it gets hot enough); biomimicry
Countries where there are women leaders have faired better. How can we ensure more inclusive styles in leadership in our major institutions.

Three top themes

-PANDEMIC AS A PORTAL-

To follow, the survey results of this question reflected Tara Brach's RAIN steps, so after organizing data in this way, this is what happened... The category Transcend was added.

RECOGNIZE

Grief. Face sorrow. Recognize. Acknowledge the inequities. Power & Corruption. Profit over people. Death. Surrender.

ALLOW

Pause, go deep. Simplify. What’s there. Extreme range of experiences. Decipher one°s truth carved by feeling our feelings. What are we noticing?

INVESTIGATE

(dis)connection. Human race vulnerabilities. We are only as strong as our most vulnerable. Mental Health. Life. Love and lust. What are the lessons? Who are we? We have been released from a future we did not want. What is it that we truly value?

NURTURE

Emergent future. Alignment of actions and purpose. co-create "new reality" TOGETHER. reinvent ourselves and become better souls. Creative regeneration. Healthy planet. Transform power. Who do we want to be together? How do we transform power? Change is inevitable. Equity, who can we no longer ignore. Walking each other home. Post-apocalyptic enlightenment. Food and water and a safe environment. Learn from nature. Self-compassion. Hope. what we want for our children we need to extend to all children of the world. Equity.

TRANSCEND

Interconnectednes, we all belong, Love The Earth. Spiritual connectedness. Becoming equal and empathetic. Gratitude. Love and kindness to self and others. Everything comes from the same source (even us). Connection. Reconnecting humanity as an interconnected layer in local/regional and global/planetary ecosystems.

On the right, all the individual words are captured by an automated data organizer. The most used words have a larger font size. Without changing the order of the words manually, see what the hidden messages this digital creature is mirroring from what we wrote...

Phase 2- Making a Portrait

How does this portal look like?

Bridge of sighs. The sun dont shine, the moon dont move the tides To wash me clean Why so unforgiving and why so cold Been a long time crossing bridge of sighs The cold wind blows The gods look down in anger , On this poor child Why so unforgiving and why so cold Been a long time crossing bridge of sighs
A glass mirror
When I think of portals, the image I see is an oval with colours that swirl around in it. This seems accurate in this situation in that there is a whole mix of things the future might hold, and also that we have to jump through without necessarily knowing where we will land. The only way forward is through and into the unknown. There's a possibility that it could be beautiful. There's a possibility we could make it so. Something about colourful swirls keeps coming up for me - the movement of the inward/outward journey of being a human. Also the full motion and range of who people are as we exist in the world, and the way that intermingles, spreads, and overlaps with others.
I think of the portal as being a passage to the fairy realm. I've been thinking a lot about the Hero Journey or the arch of the Major Arcana of the Tarot. One sets out blissfully ignorant of an number of situations and is presented with tests that eventually transform the individual into someone different than what they started out as. So this fairy door would likely be in the woods just off the path. It would glimmer or catch the eye of the Hero enough for them to investigate. They would enter out of pure curiosity and because they know they have to because it's calling to them. Once they make it out, the world will have transformed and so will they.
A tunnel, dark and long. At the end you will find flowers, a beautiful garden with a lot of light.
I had many thoughts but finally landed on this - butterfly. The represent transformation, hope and resurrection. They also represent endurance, change, hope, and life. They are individual and yet flock together. The work with nature in so many ways. Some are migratory which means they are in movement to adapt as they need to. The are strong and yet really frail - like us humans. And then I remembered the Butterfly Effect - how movement in one part of the world sends out a ripple that is magnified in other parts of the world. That is what COVID has been - a massive ripple of impact and awakening across the globe. "The butterfly effect is an idea that is more commonly used in chaos theory. A small change can make much bigger changes happen; one small incident can have a big impact on the future. ... The term _butterfly effect_ comes from an analogy where a butterfly flaps its wings in Chicago and a tornado occurs in Tokyo." Butterflies are beautiful and bring a huge amount of diversity; therefore can represent the diversity of experiences, races, genders, cultures of global citizens being impacted and awoken during the COVID times.
I picture it as a futuristic, giant, inter-dimensional doorway, made by healing crystals that represent the 7 chakras, such as: Selenite, Amethyst, Turquoise, Rose quartz, Citrine, Sunstone and Red Jasper. The portal is full of brightness, consciousness and vivid colors at the very next end of Humanity stage. Leaving behind a dark era of selfishness, capitalism and racism.
At first I thought of an urban landscape but without light pollution so the stars could be clearly seen, but after a bit I started thinking about the Milky Way being a star bridge from our perspective. https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0712h/ This picture from the Hubble telescope but brighter, with more purples and blues. I used to look at the Milky Way with my parents after they retired and moved north of Owen Sound (Ontario). They have both died since then, but I imagine them with me while I look at this star bridge.
I picture this like really perfect really sterile looking hallway from like a hospital or something with glass windows, and then I picture it shattering and all the little pieces morphing into natural elements. And there's mess and debris and rawness where there was once an illusion of perfection.
I adore doorways and pathways as a portal with light and colours that tell me there is something inviting me into an experience, to a new way of being, that is unknown and evokes curiosity. It has texture and even the same colour has shades showing its depth and complexity
My portal looks like a Black Hole. Like in the Universe, from one side is full of stars and wonders, colourful. But the otherwise is the unknown, uncertainty, we don't know where this will take us. Is a mixed of feelings because whatever is on the other side can be something amazing and wonderful but also it can be the contrary.
the husk of shells being pushed from the starter leaves of seedlings with fragile roots.. (like a toddler fighting of a small sweater) The light behind a waterfall from the perspective of the cave below. Breaching the haze of clouds as one gets further from the details of the earth we know. to see the expansive atmosphere and the dynamic cloudscapes . the pupil of an eye, mammal, amphibian, bird, uncomfortably black and irresistable
I imagine the portal as a big multicolor energy portal surrounded by nature, definitely a lot of green around it like plants trees like in the middle of the forest. For some reason it has a lot of golden color around as well and it shines bright
The portal is a huge turquoise tidal wave, the colour deepening along the bottom edge and growing clearer towards the top, foamy crest.
The lack of light forces us to tap into other senses and sensibilities that have laid dormant for a long time. Yet there is a sense of hope as you enter, in knowing that this entry could lead you to the other side where the journey continues. As we venture through, the tunnel begins to narrow, forcing us to strip ourselves of some of the things we carry, and hang onto the essentials we value at our core. We all experience different barriers and challenges along the way, making varying levels of progress and change. As we get further through the tunnel and it continues to strip us of some personal elements, we can feel a gradual but sure increase in the light, indicating that we are getting somewhere. As we emerge on the other end of the tunnel, there is a realization that though we are changed in various ways, our journey is far from over and we need to continue. There is an overwhelming feeling of positivity and pressure, in knowing that you have the freedom to select a new path as your journey continues.
I see it like an egg. It is an egg messy , with a lot of movement and crashing , and unorganized In the inside. The shell is not smooth , round nor white. It is gray, bumpy and hard. This shell is braking is exploding due to the inner caos of the egg into this beautiful universe outside of it.
I think the image would reflect a telescopic lense view of a cave. The cave is made of A beautiful rose quartz rock. There are diamonds and jewels rubies, emerald , opals embedded in some parts of the walls. Other parts of the cave wall are cement like and empty. The cave is cold. There is some water streaming in on one side - the water is not drinkable. It is dark with the exception of a huge crack that is allowing in a beautiful stream of sunshine most days. In this region there is a path of green luscious gardens that produce food and warmth from the sun. The era reflects evolution and the light streaming in hope and renewal. The cave is very very deep- there is fear and uncertainty about the thought of some how reaching the crack at least a hundred feet up - as well the unknown. The cave has several tunnel like passages- each dark and path unknown except to those who have travelled it alone .
the portal is situated in a clearing in a dense forest; there is a lot of light, it is warm light; all the creatures identified in ou ropening exercise are there, in a circle, their hands are cupped, their hands are situated at the level of their heart; there is a cacophony of bird songs, quiet though, and one by one each of the creatures enters the portal, and as we enter the portal transforms. So right now I am imagining the portal as a a shell - it is a spiral, however, once someone enters the portal it shifts - so it is like a kaleidoscope - each of us transform the portal and in so doing we transform each other. And we are dancing, we are moving in some way, all of it though is gentle - it is like we are performing a ritual.
For me the portal is a tree. London is often called the forest city. Often the only safe place to walk during covid was the river where I was greeted by many an invitational tree. Trees are an invitation into the underworld , the present world and the sky world. The tree I visit and my friend photographed has gnarly, interconnected roots. It has the far reaching arms of the octopus I envisioned. It has a vast underground system of connection and it reaches higher than whoever planted it ever thought possible.
a door made of plants, medicinal plants. Plantas trepadoras Armando una puerta, also where many rivers meet into the ocean made of flowers, plants, animals and humans.

Portraits can be very powerful because they can evoke a prompt emotional reaction in the viewer. If this gateway was a portrait, what emotions is this portrait embodying?

If a portrait represented the overall image of the mural, who's face are we portraying? What age? What shape? What gender? Remember that this is not literal to our world. You can make anything happen in our imagination. How would this portrait look like?

A child an adult an old lady
It is difficult to put into one image. It is the roads we have travelled, the people we have met, the fear we have felt, the pain, the suffering of a life of brillance and defeat. We do not know the answers or the questions we are all one with god. We travel to learn, live and die. Creating an image that is old and young, of different shapes, not gender specific, and is of a world we have yet to see. Mysterious, hazy, cold wind blowing, darkness, yet there will be light and sun when we have transcended into the world we know we want and can have.I think at the beginning of any journey we are youthful/naive in the situation. So, a young person, a curious person. All/no gender(s). Timeless dress. With a pack of necessities.
no specific gender, young, only siluet in blue
A mermaid sitting on a rock watching ripples cast out from her representing all the changes unfolding in human kind, nature and the other than human beings that occupy the earth. She is reflecting with wonder at the world around her, witnessing the disruption, change, uncertainty and emerging hope for the new path forward. In her stillness I see wisdom and patience. What can be seen above the water line is different than the wisdom and energy that lives below the water line. She is mid age. She is tired and resolved because she has seen disruption before and knows the toll it takes. However, she still has power and energy and resolve to bring hope and energy to the change that is unfolding. She embodies courage and resilience and a quiet, grounded beauty when there is chaos around her. She has the eyes of a seer - she knows what is possible and lies ahead. If you look in her eyes you can feel the possibilities too.
The face of our planet earth and cosmos. I envision it circular as it is endless, infinite, it doesn’t have beginning or end, with a sense of completeness that implies constant change and movement. It has a feminine energy as it associates with love, compassion and giving birth to a new way of living.
I think it could be many ethnicities of ancestors made from stars and constellations. They would be looking at us from the end of the star bridge.
I see a face split in two. One side is ageless and fake. And the other side is so tired and laid bare.
it might show a mosaic of age, shape and gender to represent all that are present and alive today, those who have come before us and those who are to come. Our pathway and portal is a gateway to a better future for ALL and would include humans, animals, spirits and gender would not be defined always
it's not exactly a face, no age, no gender, but a bright light with big wings, shining, like our souls, brings peace, no judgments, no nothing. Is the purest thing of all creatures in the universe and any dimensions. Is our deepest connection, our deepest "thing". No logro encontrar la palabra que busco but I do hope you get the picture.
a spirit or ancestor (elder/toddler) looking with hope and powerlessness at our futures, with love and resolve.
A kid around 2-5 years old, I imagine it as a kid because they represent the Future . I think we should try to combine all the different races in the world as much as possible to make it seem that it doesn't matter how you look or where your from we are all the same. Also think since it's a kid it doesn't have to have an specific gender
I see three faces stacked one on top of the other - elder woman at the top, middle aged woman in the centre, child at the bottom (intergenerational connection, or individual growth through time/experience), the hair of the elder cascades down to the two other faces.
This portrait would encompass characteristics of the very young to those of the elderly, reflect a diverse race population and be gender neutral, with the hopes that observer could decide on the identity of the portrait and see some element of themselves reflected in the image. It's as thought the portrait would need to morph, from left to right or top to bottom, through as many elements of diversity as possible.
It would be the fases of life. Human all ages , animals, and plants
I see a portrait of a child - age 6, Not gender specific. Layered/ cloaked in the skins of his/her older selves - Or perhaps those of others he/she would be carrying the awareness or love for - different race, different economic background, Etc etc (The imagine of a child wearing a bear skin - only replace the bear skin with layers of their older self/others)
It is the feminine rising supported by the masculine. the feminine is represented by the maiden, mother, crone. Maiden is on top of the mother and mother is on top of the crone. The mother is the goddess Kali - I love her so much - she is not the traditional mother. Another name for Kali is dark ma. She is fierce, cuts through the bullshit, has more than one head. Can you see her dancing? I can see her. I am not seeing right now what the maiden and the crone look like. the crone is definitely a grandmother, lots of wrinkles, her skin is brown. she is in a sumi pose - I don't know if that is the word. She is barefoot with both feet solidly planted on the ground, her arms holding Kali. Need to think more on the maiden.
It's one of the grandmothers...an ancient wisened face who has concern for all of her children the disadvantaged, the poor, those that are challenged, your neighbours, the four legged, the winged creatures the finned ones...all creation regardless of class, orientation, gender, race,
an elder face, with brown skin and curly hair, a gender neutral face with the eyes of an eagle or the eyes of a jaguar and visible lungs stagnant and filled with confusion.. On the opposite it could be a portrait of someone with the eyes cover by production and money, someone chained to big towers of massive production and accumulation.

First Draft Sketch

First Draft Feedback

This sketch tries to bring something from every single entry in the survey. There were lots of common ideas, some contradictory. You will have to imagine the colour at this point.

Share whatever you find meaningful and powerful.

Feeling a little weird having the first comment, but oh well. I’m loving how this is coming together. So many visions into one. <3
The space/distance and resulting tension between the mapped elder and the portal is feeling important. - Jen
I like the movement in it, the cloud scape in the woman’s hair/head, the circular nature of the portal, the butterfly representing transformation and the wave of change. I like that the path doesn’t have a lot on it as it’s the in between place - like the big pause we are all experiencing - Janet
I feel like there’s safety in the journey because the elder/goddess/creator is holding everything for the person on the journey. There is lots of beauty on the uncertain path.
I really love that the movement of the wave/portal/circle draws the path inward - there’s action/ aliveness in that; the butterfly as a beautiful symbol of metamorphosis really directs the narrative of the portal - Jamie
This is a great way to feel connected to the outside world. To read what others have written in very inspirational
Beautiful..l would like to see butterfly a bit smaller as it would add intrigue to the portal and not block..l love the mNy things going on and see how answers developed in sketch l love the face of old wise women
Wrinkles deep with wisdom

Ask questions. Any questions (I will try to answer them asap)

I’m wondering if the butterfly could be a little smaller and add a caterpillar and cocoon to signify the life cycle since we are experiencing a substantial change right now. Could the hallway be scaled down a bit so that the milky way has a bit more space? Maybe it could just be less tall, but just as long?
Why are the tree’s roots not connected with the urban space? Like when the roots of trees force themselves through sidewalks and bricks. I’m also always questioning the binary of natural and urban space. I’ve always admired the wilderness and resilience of life on the frontline of human impact.
What are the designs around the portal - I can’t quite make them out?
Is the little figure in front of the portal a child? Or a...fairy creature? It’s a little bit unclear to me.

Add any comment or suggestion about what you would like to see different.

Less abstract/decorative space on the right and move the portal to the right shifting perspective lines and extending and narrowing the path optically.
Pull the elder closer to the left as more of a framing element. Cloud land hair is good. The continents are pretty recognizable so don’t be afraid to mess with the arrangement of them. The continental plates are always moving after all. - Jen
I wonder if there can be something, like roots or energy shoots coming out of the elders head reminding us of the generations behind us and all the life and stories lived previously that are informing this time of transition. Sort of like seeing backwards just as she is seeing the future.
I’m inclined to reduce the size of the head of the elder and increase the size of the portal, mostly because I find the portal so dynamic visually, and more heavily weighted conceptually; I also find the details woven through the portal really gorgeous and I’d like to see more of it; perhaps the elder’s hair can be fleshed out a little bit more to balance/ offset...what else is in the sky? Birds? Sun? Moon? Stars? Clouds might suggest a kind of emptiness, so perhaps keep that in mind (literally, ha!); One last thought - I’d be curious to see what the path heading toward the portal might look like made up of specific stepping stones - vignettes narrating some sort of experience of past/present perhaps? - Jamie
More universe/space less urban houses? I’m okay to assume that the portal will be filled with the elements? Or will it have negative space? - Mau <3
The picture is beautiful in its soft imaging, delicateness, and femenine attitude. I would like to see it a little harder imaging and masculine attitude.

Second Draft Sketch

Phase 3 - Stories

Sections organized by Themes

Choosing sections

Creating Visual Stories

Phase 4 - Emergence

Adding Audio/Video to the Stories

For individual AUDIO/VIDEO made by participants click on the Visual Stories in the Stories Page.

Virtual Mural AUDIO ARTArtist Name

00:00 / 09:44

From Art to Action

The following actions are intentions participants committed to unfold:

“Make abstract/intuitive art post cards and put them in random mailboxes in my neighbourhood.”

“Be of service to someone in need.”

“Taking time to reflect on where is it that I can contribute to change?”

“Sharing plants that grow and art I make in my neighbourhood.”

“To cohost a listening and learning circle on how to unpack and explore white privilege. Starting tomorrow June 8th and it will be a 6 week journey.”

“Take time to show up for myself, so that I can continue to show up for others; and to avoid acting from a place of shame and guilt as an expression of white supremacy.”

“My action is to teach more art journaling to help deal with anxiety and own our feelings as we process this difficult time. Art heals.”

“Doing more art (writing) from the core to generate more vulnerability in me and others.”

“To continue to explore art and creativity as a way forward for social justice by contributing individually and seeking out others for who have expressed a way forward through art to make a better world for all. To share this mural with friends, family and colleagues as way to combine our collaborative mural and my individual experience.”

“Help people in my neighbourgh as much as I can, for example shopping for groceries for older people, etc.”

“love to use music as a low risk way of creating community - we all share the heartbeat of the earth!”

“Using more social presencing theatre to explore transforming power, centering equity and justice.”

“Hanging political messages mv love and solidarity on my laundry line.”

“Even though I know a lot of ppl, I don’t reach out to a very large group of ppl so I will work on changing that. Also, I’m going to start centring racism and unlearning and undoing white supremacy.”

PANDEMIC, A PORTAL: A PARTICIPATORY VIRTUAL MURAL