Pandemic series exhibition comes to Vernon

The Caetani Cultural Centre is hosting a one-day event featuring Melissa Dinwoodie’s Pandemic Series Exhibition.

The series is comprised of 60 powerful musings which are daily reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic.

““This series, aptly named ‘Pandemic,’ started exactly 10 days after I was laid off, from my ‘day job,’ due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Dinwoodie. “I think I took the first 10 days to be in denial over what was happening and disbelief that it could actually happen. After the new reality was settling into my mind, I decided that I was going to use this time that I had been ‘given’ to paint full time. I publicly declared, through social media, that I would paint one piece a day, every day, until all this was over. Knowing now, that in some ways, it will never be over, I had to come up with a different ‘end’ date, as I had no intention on creating a never-ending series. I went back to work on May 22, which was #56 in the series, so I decided that #60 would be a nice number to end on. I am so grateful for the desire and need to create, (although some days were harder than others), but this series carried me through a time that would’ve been difficult without it.”

Originally from Vernon, Melissa Dinwoodie is a visual artist currently living in Kelowna. She is a past artist in residence at the Caetani Centre. She specializes in acrylic and mixed media painting and illustration. Her practice focuses on figurative and portrait art, fascinated with the possible connection between the viewer and subject matter.