STILL Waters presents a body of work that I have been journeying with for well over 2 years. More recently, *Hurricane Maria has been my muse, given me the urgency to express my ideas. l am reflecting and ruminating about ‘Maria’, one event within our current Climate Crisis. Her impact was brought home to our doorsteps and rooftops in the land of my birth, Dominica. We saw the visible effects on our forests and oceans which spat back the plastic of a single use lifestyle and throw-away society, these realities and visions have been haunting me for a very long time. Even more disturbing, is that we feel the effects of disasters for years, keeping these emotions and pain buried deep within ourselves where they fester and eat away at us mentally and often physically. The pain and trauma not just during the actual event, but what we experience long after; the overwhelm of the aftermath, the displacement, loss, loneliness, hopelessness and confusion, the invisible effects that linger. I know first-hand that getting up and dusting ourselves off after Maria is not and has not been a joy ride, as I am certain it is the same for the millions of people who suffer daily because of the state of our world. It has been a real raw and emotional, a slow-motion nightmare. I have tried to capture these emotions in my abstract paintings; the ocean, the water, the rain, the wet, the scorching sun on roofless homes have all been inspiration for this body of work, STILL Waters. The cathartic effects of working on this exhibition have been one of the main tools of liberation for me, day by day I am liberated from the experience and aftermath of its muses, Maria among other experiences in my life, I pray that this will be the impact on those who come to see the exhibition, that they too can feel ‘liberated’ from their ‘debts’ of their pasts.
The Installation STILL Waters is intended to create a reflective space. This space incorporates multiple metaphors for the questions I pose or statements I make about the situation we are currently in. In particular, to bring an awareness to the fragility of our materialistic and ‘mentalistic’ existence juxtaposed against the resilience of the human spirit. And whether we require evidence of our passage here to inform us that we ARE in this space. Physical installation and the symbology behind its details: Laid out on the floor as opposed to a roof is a blue Tarpaulin, immediately recognizable in a Dominican (displacement) context as many many months after Maria, most homes are covered in that same blue tarpaulin. In the original STILL WATERS held in Dominica, this particular tarpaulin strewn on the floor that I used was tattered, and torn, taped and tied as it actually came from my house and was evident of what it was like living under it. It was clear evidence of the winds and heavy showers rushing down Morne Trois Piton, in whose shadow my house sits, sounded and felt like a 6-masted yacht in full tack, almost constantly. While it lay strewn lifelessly on the floor, what I assimilate is a sleep stalker, daytime demon able to conjure up the shakes and psychosis of PTSD. The tape and rope still attached were evident of futile attempts to patch a hole that poured water through, into just the wrong place. Ropes that burned through my gloved hands while at dusk I clung to the salvaged boards making a support to pin tarpaulin to, in a spread eagle ‘Spiderman pose’, racing to tie it down before that next big gust that has already picked up its howl on the downslope of my majestic three peaked mountain reaches me. Fear and vulnerability take on a whole new meaning. The Tarp on the floor is also a metaphor for the ocean bed, a place where everything is submerged. Off-Cuts Mobiles. Making part of the installation are 4 hanging mobiles made from wood and galvanize off cuts and glass and plastic miniature alcohol bottles. The wood offcuts from rebuilding homes are cut into fish, fish symbol meaning plentiful and abundant, these fish take on the colours of the flag of Dominica designed by Dr. Alwin Bully. The colours represent; yellow for the Kalinago, black for the people of African Heritage, the red of our struggle that holds the center of the flag. These mobiles have an effect that we literally felt like 'fish out of water'.
Throwing Shadows an interactive and ephemeral piece. Mixed Media: Light projection, shadows, canvas, pencil and ink The mobiles at the core of the exhibition are positioned to ‘throw shadows’ on the wall behind making a work of their own that does not exist in reality but only when we look at it, a meditative space. An interactive space that visitors are asked to try to draw the shadows on the canvas that is hanging on the shadowed wall. As soon as they enter the space between the mobiles and canvas, they realize and actually, they make an impact on what effect the light has on the canvas. I am asking people to make a conscious note of what impact they have on theirs or any space they enter, whether physically or emotionally? It is within this curated environment that I find people most ready to share their thoughts and feelings about what they are experiencing or what the space is stirring up for them, and how, if in any way they may be feeling liberated from negative, depressive haunting feelings. The event Sharing Space on Wednesday 20th November is a targeted time when I can sit with others and write and talk about the evoked experiences. Program of events: • Private View – Tuesday 19th November 6:30 till 8:30pm • On Wednesday 20th November noon to 8pm, I will be Sharing Space with attendees as well as hold a Facebook Live Monologue and intermittent dialogue with attendees covering topics of distress, displacement, disillusionment and renewal. • On Saturday 23rd November from noon till 6pm. I will read from exhibition feedback and have a special opportunity called Collecting Receipts'. I have long been inspired by a quote from the artist Louise Bourgeois who is quoted as saying..., "I have paid my debt to the past therefore I am liberated". By asking visitors to share my exhibition I also invite them to share receipts; (‘spoken or written evidence’), experiences they want to be liberated from. We will then perform a short ablution ceremony as a symbol of release. The idea is that it will allow for a space for them to leave their 'debts' (traumas) behind and feel liberated to move on.
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