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Since before mandatory curfews and stay at home orders were in place, Mobil artist Micah Mermilliod has always enjoyed going on long walks throughout his neighborhood.

“I would use these walks not just as a form of exercise, but also as a time of reflection,” Mermilliod said “Now, in the time of COVID-19 and quarantines, my daily walks have become a sort of escape to help fill many of the voids which come with living in isolation.”

While on his walks, Mermilliod said he has noticed changes in his surrounding community, “both positive and negative.”

The changes, he said, are directly related to the impact coronavirus has had on society. In Quarantine Walks, Mermilliod uses art to document these changes.

Micah Mermilliod’s “Quarantine Walks” is featured in the Foyer Gallery at the International Arts Center at Troy University through April 15.

Carrie Jaxon, IAC curator, said Mermilliod creates work which often incorporate elements of collage. He is most interested in adaptive changes that people make, especially in an environment that is rapidly changing due to catalysts such as technology, socio-economic status and environmental changes, she said.

“Micah’s photography series offers a unique, current, and relatable perspective into his personal life through outings during the Covid19 pandemic,” Jaxon said. “He explores the idea of environment and the simple act of walking in his neighborhood, observing the positive and negative impacts that have developed over the past year.”

Jaxon said Mermilliod documents discarded gloves and masks, comical marketing schemes in restaurant windows, children’s drawings on fences and beautiful forgotten spaces discovered during his quarantine walks.

“Micah’s talent is presented in his ability to find beautiful compositions and details in commonplace moments or spaces” Jaxon said. “His use of polaroid photos to create the compositions is playful and mesmerizing, encouraging our eyes to catch details that might otherwise be lost – and consequently leaving viewers with the desire to see how their environments and perspectives might have changed from the on-going pandemic.”

Mermilliod, a native of Mississippi, currently lives in Mobile.

To know more about the artist and his art, visit mermilliod.micah@gmail.com.