Deborah Kruger

Reflections on the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021

The dualities of darkness and light could not be more exaggerated this year. On a personal level, this has been the hardest year in many as I lost both of my beloved parents. I am so grateful that I had such a special relationship with each of them and that I was raised by two extraordinary people. Later in my life, they became my biggest supporters and I owe much of my success to them.

In the months after their deaths six weeks apart, I also started to reach new highs in my art career that I could have only previously imagined. Beginning in 2020, I began to exhibit my work in international Biennales in Oaxaca and Mexico City and Australia. I have invitations for solo museum shows in Guadalajara (2022) and San Diego, CA (2023).

All of these highs and lows were against the backdrop of an international pandemic that was marked by agonies and loss and also by new ways of working and communicating. I am a great believer in silver linings. Despite the unspeakable losses and political malfeasance, artists like myself have found extended time to think and make and the outpouring of art around the world will leave an unforgettable mark.

My prayer is that the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn truly bring us into the long-awaited age of Aquarius marked by the ascendance of love, creativity and connection. Meanwhile, we wait for our vaccines which will open the doors to seeing our family and friends again.