Lifting spirits with yarn-bombing: How coronavirus inspired a Twillingate facelift
An artist is filling the streets of her town with knits to lift spirits during COVID-19
With art galleries and museums still closed due to COVID-19, one artist is taking her show on the road. Literally.
A two-kilometre strip of Twillingate roadway has been turned to an exhibition of knit and crocheted textile art, courtesy of artist Nina Elliott, who is using textiles and some imagination to raise spirits during an often-gloomy pandemic.
Calling herself "the Rock Vandal," Elliott has since 2015 been "yarn-bombing" — making colourful displays of knitted, temporary graffiti in public spaces.
Last summer she garnered a lot of attention with her Where's Waldo display, which travelled around the Atlantic provinces and as far as Ontario.
This year Waldo is back, and he's bringing a few friends.
With tensions high due to the pandemic, Elliott says she thought everyone could use a break. With the weather improving, she wanted to create an incentive for people in Twillingate to get some exercise — and a smile.
"I just thought the timing was really good," she said.
"The weather was supposed to be good, and [I thought] it would be fun and lift people's spirits, and give us something safe that we can all get out and enjoy together, but apart."
'Some mental reprieve'
Elliott works in health care every weekday, and appreciates that people are feeling anxious.
"It's definitely stressful. And you come home and check in to the news and it's all about coronavirus and it's really difficult to get away from," she said. "It's nice to be able to provide an offer of some mental reprieve."
Last year she began incorporating crochet into her knitting, which she said is much faster, allowing her to make larger displays.
"I noticed that all the other yarn-bombers in the world were crocheting, and thought there must be something to this."
Each piece takes about a month to complete. Elliott says when you are driving by you only have a moment to catch something, so she's been moving in the direction of bigger, spread-out pieces.
There are currently eight pieces, including Waldo, Homer Simpson and some original works.
"I put out 12 balloons that are positioned so that you are being uplifted by them."
Ready for the weather
Newfoundland spring weather doesn't seem conducive for outdoor textile art, but Nina Elliott is well prepared.
"I always use acrylic yarn. I find that the sun is really the wearing element.… In terms of vibrancy, the colour holds up really well," says Elliott.
She staples the pieces firmly in a manner she describes as "overzealous" to hold them in place. She said she hopes to keep them up for about another week.
She said reaction in the community has been very positive, and while she was installing the new pieces people would drive by honking or stop to tell her how much they enjoyed her art.
"It's really uplifting for me because I feel very supported."
As for what's next, Elliott is already working on a big project, but it isn't necessarily yarn.
"I'm definitely inspired and energized by the response that I'm getting with this, so I'm thinking about what to do next," she said.
"I have a bit of a limited window because I'm expecting a baby in September, so I've got to crank out as much as I can."
For those who can't make the trip to Twillingate, Elliott posts photos to her Instagram and her page at rockvandal.com.
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