Playful Resistance
I’ve always loved playing with words, ever since my first school days in Jamaica where word play was encouraged, using poetry and performance to explore culture and various ways language functioned in both formal English and patois spoken outside school.
Although I quite enjoyed the creative act of painting my first painting for this new series, I felt it was missing an accessible cultural storytelling aspect. Going back to the root of my practice I’ve decided to add language as an aspect of playful resistance in the work. One of my biggest inspirations has always been Sister Corita Kent, her use of bold colourful text to subvert and protest has drawn me and many other artists to explore the power of language.
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With this series I have decided to deconstruct old Jamaican sayings. I’ve long had a cherished 1972 copy of Jamaican Proverbs by Izett Anderson and Frank Cundall, published by the Irish University Press, that I “borrowed” from a relative many moons ago. It’s both interesting how many of the proverbs are warnings based in survival skills learned from the days of slavery and also how variations of many of the sayings are still used on the island.
My first foray into using the language of Jamaican Proverbs in this series plays with the saying “De more you chop breadfruit root de more him spring”. For me this is the perfect starting point for the work, it speaks of resilience, resistance and continuity. Below is the second painting.
