March 2020. First quarantine decreed in the state of São Paulo. The metropolis that never sleeps was restless. The energetic subway stations and cars were faced with the tormenting silence of doubt. Without really understanding and afraid of the unknown, my husband and I isolated ourselves at home with our daughters (one, 4 months old, the other 3 years old), not knowing whether this would last 3 weeks or 2 months — not even in our most catastrophic dreams we would say they would last almost 2 years.

There is a Jewish phrase that says that when you think you know all the answers, God comes and changes the questions. That’s exactly what happened to us. Even though we were anxious and insecure, we had four little eyes attentive to everything we were doing. Still, they showed us that life had to go on, even if it was between some walls and windows.

Outside, only the chirping of birds was audible, and even they didn’t seem to understand so much monotony that settled among the city’s skyscrapers. Yet they enjoyed every silent minute. From our windows we could see patches of sky and, even with the limitation, it was possible to glimpse the pure blue of the countryside, not the good old and melancholy gray of the great metropolises.

A comforting and eerie silence prevailed. The whole atmosphere made us feel like a January 1st, however, it was March. Post-carnival. The days were similar and repeated themselves in a loop of impotence. Moana, Bolt, LadyBug, and the entire Dog Patrol didn’t make room for the bad news that was aired on television.

We were always saved by four-legged superheroes, a girl defending Mother Nature with the help of a man who turned into a shark, and a ladybug and her cat friend—life was simpler in our little one’s eyes. big 3 year old girl.

I soon saw that mother who was strict about the use of electronics in me, giving space to the mother who saw in them an opportunity to escape. So I had to accept them without flinching.

In this period of confinement, I learned how to cook, entertain, organize and breastfeed. All at once!

On a day like everyone else, I was playing with the little ones on the balcony of our apartment and we were having fun. It was a good day. Spontaneously, I tried to poke my head out of the window, breathe that sigh of freedom, but I was interrupted: the safety net held my head and my sigh turned into a lament. I sat on the floor and felt like a bird trapped in a cage.

From the first day of isolation, I thought of my grandparents. They went through the Holocaust, the horror of war, and because of that, I didn’t have the right to suffer. My grandmother, who passed away a few years ago, was always an optimistic person, who loved life and, for me, this lesson remained. Nothing else matters but life, but that feeling of imprisonment was disturbing me deeply.

As I’m an artist, my  home office  didn’t have a certain routine. The priority became my husband’s job. And mine, maybe between the girls’ naps and always during the night, when everyone slept, I could go further and explore my art

That same day, I sat looking at the hammock and through it. Sad news arrived of the deaths of distant people who, for the moment, would resemble close friends; people losing their jobs, going hungry… People who were already lonely fell into deep loneliness. It was all a complete stranger.

I remember that in the drawing of the girl friend of the shark man they lived on a beautiful island and whenever I closed my eyes I wondered when I could go with my family to a beautiful place like that again… When my youngest could run free through the beach… When my firstborn could save the world with the ninja strength that only she had. These questions made my chest ache.

Moana’s soundtrack accompanied me for a long time, oddly enough. She brought me the naïve hope of better times. However, tears of fear and, at the same time, of gratitude were shed daily. Thanks, yes. We were all healthy. Together. Trapped in our house. Our home! We had that privilege. So, in the midst of so much bad news, I wanted to scream: ” It’s going to be okay!” for the whole neighborhood to hear.

And it was through the net that imprisoned me that I decided to exclaim this thought. In a rush, I grabbed all the satin ribbons I had at home and began to embroider the polythene weave in front of me. I didn’t sketch, I didn’t know if it would work and I didn’t see anything but my optimism about everything I was experiencing at that moment. My husband knew he had married an artist, but most likely, at that moment, he was in doubt whether I was freaking out or in a creative moment. Little did he know that one walks next to the other.

It was curious how, with this act, I touched the lives of people who were far away but close. Unknown neighbors who followed my routine, who exchanged glances and, from time to time, a discreet wave, and even the pedestrians who allowed themselves to walk the streets looked on with curiosity. Strangers who, through art, have seen their daily lives transformed with such subtlety… Art and its unlimited power that brings them together; saves.

After this intervention, I felt the need to delve deeper into this subject and researched about isolation in large urban centers. I understood that behind the windows there were small worlds, with all their memories, achievements, pains and loves.

I went to demolition warehouses and rescued windows… I rescued dreams! I eternalized and resiguinified this historical period through this uniquely expressive artistic object. The window is an invitation to the expansion of consciousness, a possibility to discover the new, to let creativity unfold. It is an opportunity that life offers, a symbol of liberation or escape, although it also allows the entry of new ideas or experiences.

I opened the window and saw a world of possibilities and it opened up for me, showing me that, in fact, it was all inside.

About:

Taly Cohen is a contemporary abstract artist represented by Chase Contemporary gallery in New York and PicTrix in Lausanne, Switzerland. He participated in important exhibitions such as SPArte, Coletiva Galeria Eixo (RJ), X São Paulo Contemporary Art Salon, Project Galleries (Funarte), Annual Arts (Faap), ArtSoul, Collective at White Porch Gallery in Miami, among others. In addition, she was mentioned by the American magazine Forbes and on the website Artnet by the businesswoman Paris Hilton, as one of the new talents of her generation.