Congratulations to Doris Mitsch on the release of her TED Talk in which she explains the process behind the images in her new series “Locked Down Looking Up.”

“Locked Down Looking Up” started as a series of images made over time from a fixed point—outside the artist’s front door—during the San Francisco Bay Area’s lockdown to slow the spread of Covid-19. Multiple shots were combined to show the flight trails of birds, insects, and bats. While most everything in Doris Mitsch’s life had come to a standstill, up in the air there was still a lot going on. Later, when she started to be able to move around a little more, she began to explore other locations.

According to Mitsch: “We humans have invented whole digital worlds, but sometimes we still need to be reminded that there’s more in this heaven and Earth than is dreamt of in our philosophy. And that there are endless ways to look at familiar sights, like a bird in flight, with fresh eyes; to expand our shared experience in a way that connects us with the rest of the living world; to feel both kinship with our fellow creatures and respect and even reverence for their otherness.”

Watch the full talk here.

View the series “Locked Down Looking Up” at CLAMP.
Browse all work by Doris Mitsch at CLAMP.