“We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to
stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.” - Sonya Renee Taylor

In Long Distance Relationship, 15 artists navigate new territories sprung from the global pandemic and associated landscapes of stress, disconnection, and trauma. While much creative research thrives in independent, focused studio time, cultural producers throughout history have turned to their artistic networks for inspiration and connection, by gathering together in salons, critiques, studio visits, receptions, lectures, and hang-outs. Throughout the projects presented in Long Distance Relationship, ranging from textile creations and paintings on paper, to video, performance and site specific sculpture, the artists contend with our reality of social distancing and shifts in time zones. Using Zoom, Google, Discord, Instagram, Facetime, Moodle, Spotify, and other virtual structures in order to nurture and exhibit our creative connections, Long Distance Relationship participants ask what it means to relate to each other through this scope of mediating platforms while offering unique lenses into our contemporary moment.

Here we see artworks that refuse singular definitions, creative practitioners disavowing the limitations of separation, shape shifting forms that beg for second looks, images that connect us with stories across time and space, and conjured intentions that set the stage for new realities. Through an alchemy of determination, vulnerability, tenacity, and a belief in the redemptive and generative power of art, rather than returning to a former version of normalcy, the presenting artists stitch together new visions for our changing world.