This stop-motion animation explores how kids are feeling amid COVID-19

Right now, we're going through a period of uncertainty and change. We asked a few East Coast creators to reflect on their own transformations, in the past or present.

Briana Corr Scott is a fine artist, illustrator and writer based in Dartmouth, N.S. 

Here's her recent experience. 

Little Islands is a poem and stop-motion animation that was born out of watching the way my three children reacted to the pandemic.

I am a full-time artist. Luckily, my husband and I both work from home, so for us the pandemic brought internal changes, when compared with our children.

My oldest daughter, Izzy, is 13. She was the most affected by the stay-at-home order. Izzy loves junior high school. She joined the clubs, student council, tried out for badminton and was excited for her spring musical.

She was thrilled by the independence and social activities of junior high school, and loved hanging out with her friends. I saw how much it affected her to leave school and stay at home.

Loneliness settled over her. She missed her friends desperately, so much that it was palpable.

My other two children are six and eight.

One afternoon, I watched my youngest climb to the top of our swing set and wave over the fence at her neighbour friend, who was also on the top of her swing set. It broke my heart to see these two girls itching to play, but forced to be apart.

I saw in that moment two little girls waving from separate islands. Once I had this image, the rest of the poem came to me quickly.

In the process of making this stop-motion, I reflected on how being physically apart is different for children and teens in comparison to adults. So much of play and being social is physical for them.

Personally, I was satisfied enough calling a friend by video or chatting to someone from a safe distance. But for kids, they need to run, play and chase.They need to huddle over a book or a drawing.

They need to stand close together outside school and chatter, hug or braid each other's hair.

My intention with this short animation was to make something hopeful. I wanted to express that although this is hard, it will pass. In the meantime, there are things we can do to stay connected, and they matter so much to those around us.

Realizing this intention was transformative for me as an artist.

So much of my time is spent alone in a room "making." It feels like painting or writing is the most important part of what I do.

During this pandemic it has been made clear to me that sharing and connecting is an integral part of the art and stories I create.

Now that it is a time when I could just stay put and create, I found that I devoted a large amount of my time inventing ways to stay connected to those that view and read my art and stories.

I made this animation out of love; it was something I made purely to give to others. It was a way for me to shine a light out from my own little island.

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