In 2020, during the beginning of Covid isolation, my focus on the local landscape intensified as I began to live remotely from the communities I knew and loved. “Resilience” reflects my mental state at the time: uncertainty and a sense of being closed off from others combined with a heightened yet skewed sense of awareness that emerged from being so alone. In “Resilience,” I used vibrant and intense colors to create the effect of viewing a film negative, challenging myself to create depth in a positive/negative image and yet keep the control of the subject. I discovered the focal point, a heavy 4” chain, 50 feet from the fence depicted in the painting. The addition of this found object, bolted through the center of the painting, changed the nature of the work, making necessary a 4 ½-inch deep wood canvas on the sides for protection. The chain thus created a sense of safety and a warning to keep away, akin to the masking and social isolation that marked the beginning of the pandemic, but also gave the painting “closure,” both to the story of the fence and to the creative process for this piece.