COLUMBIA, S.C. — Over 60 photographs are on display at The Koger Center as a part of an Irmo woman's exhibit 'In the Time of COVID.'
Kimberly Case saw The Koger Center calling for artist work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and knew she had the perfect thing.
“I think it’s good to reflect on something big that you’ve been through so hopefully other people will enjoy looking at my artwork as well," Case said.
She had been working on the pieces for almost a year, and is the co-owner of Studio3P in Irmo, where she staged her shots.
The art adorning on the walls is made up of almost 70 different images in her project “In the Time of COVID” a part of the center’s 1593 Project: A Call for Art showcasing artist’s work through the pandemic.
Case says that the photographs are mainly self-portraits taken during the pandemic.
"My work is inspired by things that were going on in the world at the time. So if you start at the beginning and go to the end of my section of the exhibition you’ll see kind of a timeline of what was going on during the pandemic,” she said.
From the toilet paper craze to stay-cations, Kimberly featured the safest subject she could during a pandemic: herself.
“It’s a little weird but a lot of photographers delved into self-portraiture," Case explains, "many photographers across the world turned to work with what they could work with. You know, you couldn’t bring in models, you can do it on family members but after a while, they get so tired of that- they’re sick of it. You’re always ready when you’re ready so it’s easy to use yourself as a model."
Case says taking these photos really helped her to work out the things she was going through creatively.
"Some of these things, they were really personal and I felt like I was sharing myself by taking the pictures. And some of them are wacky, some of them are funny and silly and some of them are more serious about some very serious things.”
You can view her exhibit in the Donor Room Gallery of the Koger Center until August 13.