Erica Jones

The Bench
30 x 40
Oil on canvas

Two years ago I spent two months in Asia. I learned a lot about family-oriented, culturally rich, and hospitably natured communities. During the pandemic in NYC, I’ve spent countless hours walking in parks, not traveling, seeing little of my family, and finding excitement in seeking insight into our own Manhattanite culture through people- watching. One night I sat for hours looking through my travel photos from Asia and saw a parallel: similarly-aged women to those who live in my UWS neighborhood, sitting on a bench in Vietnam that looked exactly like the benches I see in Riverside Park. Our NYC benches give people a space to wait for friends, a common space for socially distanced conversation, a place for relaxation, and a moment to pause. The pandemic has given me the time and space to feel everything. I missed meeting with friends, and found solace on these benches; meeting with one or two people who lived in walking distance was my social opportunity. Now that we are readjusting and slowly coming into our city’s spaces I feel a connection to others in a different way, and I wonder if these ladies are still meeting on the same bench and finding their own personal respite as well.