Seven Studies for ‘A Holding’, (23 March–31 May 2020) engages with D. W. Winnicott’s ideas of transitional spaces and ‘living-with’ and explores how relations of remoteness and proximity have been reconfigured through the COVID19 pandemic. I painted these watercolours of spring blossoms during the COVID19 ‘lockdown’ in the UK in 2020, between the 23^rd of March and the 31^st of May. At home all the time, the days of the week, usually quite distinct, began to blend into one another. The end of each working day was marked by a UK Government announcement of the number of people who had passed away from COVID19 in the past 24 hours, producing an increasing running total. The titles pair the date I noticed a flower of this kind open for the first time, and the total number of deaths from COVID19 in the UK, as recorded on that same day.[i]

[i] https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-deaths-covid-19?country=GBR~OWID_WRL

Jane Rendell, Seven Studies for ‘A Holding’, 23 March–31 May 2020, Lilian Chee and Matthew Mindrup (eds) Remote Practices (Lund Humphries, 2022).

https://www.lilianchee.com/eb-remotepractices