“The past has no power over the present moment.” -Eckhart Tolle

We live in now. No matter the moment, it is now. What occurred before has gone and what has yet to be lies ahead. However you slice your time, however you consider your predicament or circumstance, you stand at the center of now. All-consuming, inescapable now – a moment that never ends, toppling on itself incessantly, replacing itself over and over into infinity.

Carole Silverstein joined us in late December 2021 as she was closing a solo show. Titled She Wears Her Potency as Ornaments (the Garden), the exhibition consisted of art made during lockdown. Her previous show closed two weeks early when things locked down, and during that time Silverstein felt a lot of despair and anxiety. This led her to create a series of small drawings that evolved and became the body of work for her exhibition. Neighborhood walks, a crucial part of her well-being during this time, served as considerable inspiration for these works. To hear more about that series/exhibition as well as Silverstein’s other work, listen to the complete interview.

Sharon Butler spoke to us in January 2022. She says the pandemic gave her – and perhaps everyone in New York City – the opportunity to rethink their assumptions about how they live and think more creatively. During that time, Butler began trading paintings with other artists through the mail. Without the pressure to produce art for exhibition, she found time to take long walks and observe the city in a way she’d never seen before. She was able to complete quite a lot of paintings and hold an exhibition “post-election and pre-vaccination.” To hear more about this show, her work and more, listen to the complete interview.