The COVID-19 pandemic has been an important inspiration to many artists in the past year. The Wind H Art Center has collected some of their creations and is displaying them in isolated spaces, mirroring the idea of "quarantine" that has become so familiar during the pandemic.

Artist Gu Xue's video works were created at the beginning of 2020 when China's COVID outbreak was severe. People were asked to stay at home during Chinese New Year, the most important occasion for family reunions.

"My mom has nine brothers and sisters. I asked each of them to read a piece of news about COVID-19 and film it in their own home. That's what you see on the screen," said Gu Xue. She believes there's a story behind each piece of news, which evokes discussion within her family. "After seeing the footage, my parents and I talked about what kind of messages we should pass on and what we should believe during such a special time.”

Isolation inspires everyone differently. For some, they turned to art or new activities just to combat anxiety. This is how artist Liao Jianhua started a 10-meter-long ink painting.

"I felt really anxious when I was under home quarantine last March and April, and decided to create something to distract myself from worries," said Liao. He used traditional ink painting techniques to draw the tadpole pattern one by one, and kept repeating it without knowing where it was going.

After it was done, many people said it's like shimmering water or a river. But that's not what Liao had planned. "I didn't mean to express anything. It helped me a lot in the way that it calmed me down," said the artist.

The exhibition featuring the hard days of the COVID-19 outbreak in China runs through May 9 at the Wind H Art Center in Beijing.