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In 2020, a quarantined lockdown forced students out of their studios and into their bedrooms. Budding artists from around the world had been working towards a future that, they now found, had changed into something unrecognisable.
The view from the window, the personalised clutter of a desk space, and the small comforts of a lonely day became the new reality. The Room With a View project prompted students to use these new realities as inspiration.
Scroll on to hear some of these students tell their stories and introduce their quarantine-inspired work to discover a vein of rich creativity within a crisis.
Indoors (2020) by Lorenzo NatuzziAccademia di Belle Arti di Bologna
"I always thought that my house was a safe place", said Lorenzo Natuzzi, "but the quarantine took the safeness to another place, far from these walls, leaving the rooms empty like the streets during that time." Watch his film, Indoors, here.
Firebear (2020) by Alexander MackenzieThe University of Edinburgh
For Alexander Mackenzie, the quarantine provided time to explore old and new traumas in a creative way. "It is the first work I have done since my stroke in Feb 2020", he says.
Mackenzie lets music played during isolation to guide the painting, a commission for a band's CD release. "It is a sleeve for a CD representing innovative cello music which I played over and again during the painting" he explains.
Balcony and chill Balcony and chill by Anjali VaswaniLondon College of Fashion
"During this quarantine I have developed a special relation with my balcony" says Anjali Vaswani, a student at University of the Arts, London.
Balcony and chill Balcony and chill by Anjali VaswaniLondon College of Fashion
"Since I live alone and it's summer, I tend to sit in my balcony to feel a bit like I'm outside. As I sit out in my balcony, I realized that, in this lockdown, everyone is like me, spending a lot of time out in the sun on their balcony alone or with someone they live with."
Balcony and chill Balcony and chill by Anjali VaswaniLondon College of Fashion
"I witnessed some awesome moments which I don't think I'd see if we weren't stuck in our homes."
"From 'Thank You' hour to sunbathing, everyone has a relation build with their balcony and I got this amazing opportunity to capture and share it to the world."
Parents (2020) by Mia TakemotoThe University of Edinburgh
Mia Takemoto used the windows of their home to paint an intimate portrait of their parents. "The sun sets and my parents finish up their work from home. As self-employed workers, the dining table has functioned as their office long before the world was put on lockdown."
"Surprisingly, in our household, this view provides a sense of normality in a time of unprecedented change."
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Now you've heard from some of the students, discover all the artworks made in response to lockdown, curated by internationally-renowned curator, Amira Gad, in Room With a View.
