WHAT OBJECT DO YOU TREASURE NOW?

Of all the spaces the COVID19 pandemic has altered during this period of tumult and transition, few have changed as much as our homes. What was once a retreat has transformed into a place for all the activities of our daily lives, while screens now serve as windows to the world. To explore this transformation, The Chronicle asked Bay Area artists and creatives to examine how their concept of home has changed during the pandemic through the lens of a single object. ¶ We posed a simple question: What item in your home has become most important to you during the pandemic, and why? The responses encompassed everything from touchstones to wellloved furniture and represented a gamut of emotions — longing for life before the pandemic, awareness of how lives have been reshaped and hope for what is to come.

Leah King

King is a vocalist, DJ, electronic music producer and cultural arts curator working as the director of education at Women’s Audio Mission. As the cofounder of San Francisco’s GLTTR Collective ( a coalition of artists focusing on the themes of joy, beauty, erotica and liberation), King is curating a series of exhibits at San Francisco’s Root Division Gallery titled “Diasporic Futurism.” The next installment, featuring artists of color from across the country, is scheduled for February 2021. Her object is

a set of lights that recall joyful experiences.

“I have a few small plugin disco balls with multicolored lights. They were just a couple of dollars off of the internet. As soon as the sun starts to set, I light them. It offers me a really beautiful visual, like an exercise for my eyes that’s also a meditation. I sometimes play music and dance, or I watch them dance. I use them to bring myself back to the exuberance and the lived experience of being out in the world. They make me think of night clubs, streetlights, taxicabs, the sparkle of buildings. We’re living in a 2D landscape right now,

with so much of our interaction on Zoom or email, so to have these little multicolored balls is really exhilarating.”

Rashaad Newsome

A multidisciplinary artist based in Oakland and New York, Newsome’s work blends collage, sculpture, film, photography, music, technology, activism and performance. He is the founder of the annual King of Arms Art Ball, an event that brings together acclaimed artists, fashion designers, musicians, activists, dancers and members of the LGBTQ community. He has created and produced experiential events with collaborators ranging from Lamborghini to Solange Knowles. His object is one of his own artworks, a stool that has become interwoven with his daily life.

“My Unity stool has become the place where I often sit and contemplate my work or put my feet up after a long day. It’s made of wood and resin, and it’s painted in pearlescent paint, which changes colors like a chameleon. It’s based on a stool from the late 19th or early 20th century, made by the Dogon peoples of Mali. The supporting figures in the original represented the founding ancestors in their descent from sky to earth. In my recreation, they represent the Black community. This type of stool was used as an altar surface for libations — I often use it as a surface for drinks with my partner. It’s also become a reminder of the importance and power of unity in this moment of extreme division.”

Erika Chong Shuch

Chong Shuch is a nationally recognized choreographer, director and performance maker. She has received awards from Creative Capital and Gerbode Foundation and recently received the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project award. She is the founder of For You, a performancemaking collective that creates interactive experiences for strangers to connect. In response to the pandemic, Chong Shuch launched the Artists and Elders Project, an initiative that pairs artists with seniors to create new forms of connection. Her clothesline has become a core part of her life during the pandemic.

“My clothesline has become so important to me. In my past life, laundry was a chore I would put off and then rush to get through, but now it’s become a joy. I love the process of taking each piece of laundry, putting it on the line, letting the wind and sun do its magic. I love the smell of the air clinging to my sheets and the simple process of folding. It’s these gifts that are so important right now. But it also feels too easy to just tell a story of the joy we find in these more spacious times. There’s a simplicity to that narrative that’s problematic. I’m hesitant to speak too poetically about things like clotheslines because there’s so much pain right now.”

Jason Wyman

Wyman is a convener, activist, graphic designer and portraitist. With support from the Alliance for Media Arts + Culture, Wyman and