As a continuation in the Interview Series, we interviewed Lidia as part of our proposal to offer insight into how practising artists were coping with these unprecedented times. She has provided us with a window into her current practice and how she has repositioned with lockdown restrictions.

​

1- Who are you? Introduce yourself
My name is Lidia Lidia and I am a multidisciplinary artist working with installation, video,
photography, performance and activism.

2- What is your artistic practice?- What drove you to work as you are now? How has this
been impacted by lockdown restrictions and the pandemic?
Using strong and sometimes disturbing images in combination with extensive research I aim to produce work that communicates uncomfortable narratives, generally rooted in social injustice and inequality. I strongly believe in the statement that ‘the personal is political’ and that through art it is possible to shape society. The issues I highlight are generally supported with extensive research and data that I publish with the final work on my website with the hope that people try to find their own truth via the links I share. Somewhere on the internet I read this quote by Judy Chicago which expresses very clearly the way I perceive and would like to use my art ‘I don’t think art can change the world, I do think art can educate, inspire, empower people to act ‘. But the pandemic and the lockdown changed something in my perception of reality and I am going through some changes in my practice…
   I spent the first 5 weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown reading news and researching obsessively: I passed from indignation, to anger, to frustration and deep confusion. The narrative that has been sold to us is that no one could forecast this pandemic arriving. But it doesn’t take a lot of commitment to discover that there have been warnings from the scientific community since 2008 about how emerging infectious illnesses were increasing every year. Or that no country was ready to cope with a pandemic that was clearly approaching: even including models about how devastating it was going to be for the global economy to be so unprepared… Nevertheless the majority of people are not interested in seeing uncomfortable realities: they just want to be entertained and to be told what they want to hear.
I don’t know any more what is the meaning of work like mine that wants to build awareness and act on the consciousness of the collective. At the moment I just want to dress up using all the outfits and props I have accumulated since I was 10 years old. I am still not sure what is the truth behind the Covid-19 apocalypse, but I am sure that one day, somewhere and somehow, this truth will emerge. It is just a matter of waiting… And fed by these thoughts during the lockdown, among other works, with the help of my collaborator Mr. SlimBones I produced a series of 20 photos titled ‘The Waiting Room’.

 

3- What are you currently working on? (virtual exhibitions, creative movements, collaborative
projects, maintaining production of work).

Before the pandemic I meant to realise 4 videos about Baby T and his lovely mum Lady T. But because of the pandemic my priorities changed and I postponed the project. Now I really need to finish this project before November. Baby T and his mum are great supporters of the president Donald Trump, and what they have to say has to be said before he will finish his mandate, and considering how the things are at the moment in US there is the chance that
soon US citizens will have a new president.

4- What is next? – How, if at all, has this pandemic inspired further progression?
After November I would like to take a couple of months of break because since March
everything has been mentally intense. During this break I would like to try to think to go back
to my ‘origins’ as performer, maybe collaborating with someone else. But all this at the
moment is still a vague far far away idea!

5- Where can we find you? Extra projects you are working on, social media, website,
exhibitions you will be in, etc.
My research and works can be found at http://www.lidialidia.com
I post also images on instagram @justlidialidia, but there it is too long and difficult to add
links of my research.
In the next months some images of ‘The Waiting Room’ will be part of 2 online exhibitions –
“So Why Not Do It Again?” a group exhibition curated by cultivategallery.com and
‘Coronapocalypse!’ curated by FUBAR Collective.
They will also be in an exhibition in London titled ‘Reality and its disorders’ curated by
Degrees of Freedom. On that occasion I will present a new work ‘Back To Normal’ , a
performance that hopefully will close my cycle with the ‘covid art’.