Lockdown Diary

People from around the world are likely to always remember what happened in the spring of 2020.

Rather than a localised event in some far away land, the human race simultaneously experienced the same thing the world over. Probably an unprecedented occurrence.

The UK responded in a carefree manner and the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, nonchalantly said that if everyone got infected, then herd immunity will be built and that would be a good thing. He only realized the gravity of the situation in the second half of March, as the NHS told him that they would be overwhelmed, and the country went into lockdown on the 23rd of that month. Since then three months of life under house arrest was imposed on all the UK residents.

From my selfish viewpoint, the lockdown presented me with a unique opportunity of a quiet time to produce work. While working on the Pole Dancers or Amano-Uzume series, I exercised in a small park, which I could see from my window and sketched children playing in it. These sketches were not just sceneries of the outside world but also of my inner landscape. In a quiet world, without any interference from others, my imagination was allowed to roam freely. In contrast with the apocalyptic scenes reported in the media, this activity was truly a wonderful experience for my creativity. I gave the title, Lockdown Diary, to a collection of sketches I drew during such a special period.

... and then, I ended up with a mini series.

Love for Plants Under the lockdown, people baked bread and sowed vegetable seeds. I myself bought green bean seeds, radish seeds and mini tomato seedlings from a DIY shop which was still open and started growing them. It was very pleasing to see small green shoots starting to peek from the soil. As I observed their growth every day, I suddenly found myself in love with the plants. So, I decided to depict humans who became one with plants. Plants do not need humans but humans need plants. Plants sustain our bodies. So in a way, humans are products of plants.