Meira Samuels is an Orthodox Jewish mother of four. At the beginning of the pandemic, she was working two part-time jobs from her closet-turned-home-office while managing three of her children’s virtual learning and hosting family from out of town. At the same time, she was unable to visit her autistic son for several months, since there was a lockdown at his residential school.

The background of the quilt represents the conflicting needs that pulling at Meira’s attention, and the irregular, overlapping shapes show how fragmented her attention had become – no matter what she was doing, she felt like she always needed to be multiple places at the same time, unable to successfully complete even one task. Finally, the holes in the background represent the absence of her regular visits to see her oldest son, who also needed her.

And yet, as hard as it is to juggle everyone’s needs, Meira lives life by focusing on the good and accepting that not everything needs to be perfect. She is depicted here watering flowers in the chaos of her fractured background, cultivating the beauty within the challenges.

27” x 46”
2022