Annabel Manning: “Epicenter of the Epicenter”

We invited artists from Duke’s MFA EDA community to share work they have made in response to the coronavirus crisis. See the full “Home & Away” collection here.

Annabel Manning: “Epicenter of the Epicenter”

Artist’s Reflection

The need to keep active with my communities during this Coronavirus period of social isolation has led me to develop virtual, immersive, artistic experiences that allow us to reflect jointly on the challenges we face. I’ve been working with Latinx artists and activists to provide virtual art classes for Spanish speaking families. I also have co-hosted a remote poetry and drawing series for previously incarcerated people. “We have created magical spaces,” a participant says about these experiences. My collage “outbreak/breakout” embodies some of these experiences, compounded by the recent massive resistance to racism in the U.S.

March 22, 2020 – The “Stay at Home” order takes effect in Jackson Heights, New York City,

where neighborhood pharmacies are closed and food deliveries interrupted.

where a refrigerated truck is stationed outside Elmhurst Hospital, 5 blocks
away, to hold the bodies of the dead—“apocalyptic,” says The New York Times.

where helicopters hover overhead to bring in the medical staff or to move patients in and out.

— ANNABEL MANNING, MFA EDA ’13
“outbreak/breakout”

Annabel Manning: “My work reflects on the communities closest to me. Currently, I live in Jackson Heights, Queens, infamously ‘the epicenter of the epicenter’ of the Coronavirus for many weeks, where I document the fear, empathy, and racial injustice around me by creating ink drawings, photos, and collages.”