This was a unique experience for a number of reasons. The first one being that it was the first time having a show with my mother. My mother is an accomplished artist with over 30 years of experience and we had always spoken about doing a show, but due to me traveling and not producing enough work, we never got around to it. The second reason is that it was the first time doing a virtual show and I can see the benefits of doing virtual shows – short timing, not renting fees of a space except say Zoom fees and no worrying about other miscellaneous fees (food, drinks, business cards etc.). The drawbacks being the difficulty to network and having to find other means of selling the art work. The last reason being that it was held on Internations where we had access to a new audience from Italy, Nigeria, France, USA (Texas) and Greece which meant a wider reach.
We spoke about the politics of our work – mom featuring people who are marginalized in Jamaica and creating work in such a way, that one is able to see the Divine in that person through the portraits done. The gaze can be politicized and mom features children, the elderly, those in Zion Revival, Rastafarians and Indians among others.
Then I presented my pieces that are part of a series of #artasapoliticalact which I began when I drew for my October challenge. I wanted to do something different given the political situation within the USA for the elections and so I did 14 pieces. I am hoping to do another 16 so as to have a proper set. I then explained that the the pieces reflected the fact that time and history are cyclical and that history has been repeated many times in the USA.
Through the use of pop culture and history, I created pieces that would highlight the point that things have not changed and as a nation we have a long way to go. The world is made up of stories and the issue here is that the narrative that is perpetuation is one that emerged from conquest, colonialism, capitalism and genocide all stemming from the context of white supremacy. Systematic racism is still alive and well in aspects of government, the structure of our neighborhoods, access to amenities, and even what is learnt in classrooms to just name a few. My art then creates a space for people to stop, learn and reflect – it is meant to be confrontational and to make people aware of the work that needs to be done for the USA to move forward. Trump was a manifestation of the history that is alive and well in “Amerika” and Biden winning the 2020 elections is just a start of the work that needs to be done to reconcile and heal the USA.
The question and answer session was insightful and the audience was really engaged. I am glad that we had this presentation and hope that maybe we can organize another one so that we can connect with other artists and share our art with others.
Follow
