ARTIST STATEMENT
Jerrod Beck
From the fall of 2019 to the spring of 2022 I lived in Spain working as an English language teacher in elementary schools. Six months into my experience the COVID-19 pandemic hit and choosing not to return to the U.S. meant the rest of my time on the Iberian Peninsula would have an added layer of complexity. Along with the expected challenges brought on by linguistic, cultural and bureaucratic differences, the pandemic and all the restrictions put in place by the Spanish government to help curb it opened me up to a deeper level of solitude than I was already in as an expat.
Stillness marked so many months of my time abroad. At its worst, the pandemic confined me to just over 1,000 square feet in my four bedroom apartment for something like 50 days. My roommates all had left for their home countries and being the sole tenant often left me feeling like I existed outside of space and time. Death felt palpable when out in the streets for a quick walk to the grocery store, and the usual closeness and intimacy that is traditional of the Spanish people was gone and in its place was a chasm of mistrust. With this retraction came an embracing of the domestic, of the minutiae. Preservation of health and attention to cleanliness became paramount. Collectively we were pressed right up against our mortality and those with the desire had the unique opportunity to investigate the essence of who they are. I simultaneously felt like I had a great distance and a great closeness to myself during this period. Distant from the person I was in the context of the U.S., but so very close to the unfettered, universal self.
It was during this time of “social distancing” and “lockdown” that I bought the 35mm film camera which I used to take the photos you see here, a Canon AF35M. This camera was my primary way of documenting experiences and it captured so much more than abandoned plazas and empty streets. Hundreds of photos exist from this period of my life, but these are those which I felt the most compelled to share with the people of Abilene. My hope is that the viewer will be stirred to think about the role that stillness plays in their life and that they will also be inspired to seek out new experiences both here in their home city/state/country and abroad.
This exhibition is both a tribute to and a commentary on stillness (I consider the works on display still lifes in their own right and believe nothing captures stillness quite like the camera), but it’s also a celebration of life, because I was fortunate enough to make it through the worst of the pandemic in Spain and was able to travel and experience many of the beautiful things the country has to offer during my three years there. Above all else, this exhibition is a love letter to all the special people and places I had the privilege of getting to form relationships with. I cannot fully express how deeply cared for I felt while living in the Valencia and Galicia regions.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jerrod Beck is a multidisciplinary artist currently living in Portland, OR where he is studying for his master’s in social work. He considers art making a natural extension of the self and hopes to use it as a tool for healing in his practice as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.
This is his first solo exhibition.
