- Contributed
Untitled' by Ebony Patterson, mixed media on paper.
Sana Rose, Contributor
ART AFICIONADOS look forward to the annual Final Year Exhibition at the School of Visual Arts at Edna Manley College, as an opportunity to spot the new talent on the Jamaican art landscape.
This year, the show is titled 'Stages', referring to the points of development towards the current end product and, of course, the anticipated progression of the new talent on show. Within the last two to three years, the Art Education department has certainly been experiencing development in terms of the quality of the work offered for viewing and the presentation. This year, the department shines considerably, as better judgment on the part of the school's administration has allowed for a separate display of the students' studio one component (studio major) from the Art Education component, which offers student work from teaching practice as well as teaching aids.
The department presents a whopping 13 students, one less in number than the department of Visual Communication which usually has the largest number of exhibitors. The volume of studio work of the Art Education students is on par with, and in a few cases, exceeds that of students with much more studio time in other departments.
While Michl Chung's display, is not very inventive in design, it noticeably overshadows, the full-time Jewellery student Petrenia Wright in volume.
In ceramics, Karlene Goffe and Rohan Gardner hold their own very well with Goffe showing a greater flair for experimentation, the volume and creativity of their work falling second only to full-time ceramist, Vilya Thomas.
In sculpture, Marlon Thompson's installation uses the outline of a dead body at a crime scene as a motif with the background voices of wailing women lamenting the loss of their loved one and while not completely resolved formally or conceptually, is an interesting use of both two and three dimensions - the flat outlined body and the empty space.
His installation has presence and potential alongside full-time sculptor, Kennie Harrison's installation that appears to take us through the passage of the womb where white cloth is stretched over very sturdy wire armature that creates softness and at the same time solidity to create an organic cave-like structure.
Spiraling towards an empty core with numerous protuberances along the way that facilitate some kind of interaction with the piece, the most striking aspect of the work is the entrance - a narrow slit - which resembles the female pudenda, giving a greater formal and conceptual resolution than Thompson's.
From the Textile and Fibre Art vantage point, Janeek McNish's installation is a captivating display of conceptual awareness combined with haute couture. Although conceptually McNish delves into the uncomfortable psyche of battered and sexually abused children, we remain fully aware of her studio major where fibres are layered on mannequins or draped and torn on walls. She has the edge over full-time Textile students who also negotiate a layered textile aesthetic in their work. The Textile and Fibre Arts department overall, presents both furnishings and the use of fibres towards sculpture/installation.
Michela Lee opted for totem poles of text, fibre and collage that offer intimate examination of the surfaces. She is clearly an artist with composite interests - textiles, of course, but moreso, collage, installation and painting. Jodi-Ann Fong combines form and function in her cultural display of oriental descent. Masks don fabric and fibre headdresses interspersed with draped fabric while the floor becomes an inviting space furnished with pillows and cushions. Tanisha Henry goes purely for modern furnishing and offers an attractive display of a bedroom setting. It is clear though, that the creative use of fibre in the department beyond the usual woven shawls and non-descript pieces eclipses the printed fabric. The department still lags behind in print, as the patterns are far too elementary for the level that one expects of the students.
Ceramics has been fairly consistent thus far with quality and this year offers only two full-time students. Vilya Thomas undoubtedly outdid herself in volume, which not even the art education ceramics graduates could compete with. What is most appealing in Thomas' display is the range of experimentation of finishes and form. Choosing the main theme of garden pottery for her independent project did not limit creativity and exploration to only this final set of works. Thomas takes on fountains, wind-chimes, tables, canister sets, lemonade sets, masks, plaques, lamps and a number of other vessels and objects that are not only functional but also merge with sculpture to create more interest in the individual pieces and her collective output.
She holds our attention considerably not just because of volume but creativity. The Painting Department, after a few years of having a comparable number of students to Visual Communication, narrows this year to three exhibitors - Ebony Patterson, who has already won for herself international scholarships, and her male counterparts, Andrae Green and Robert Joyette.
Patterson continues her self-search and questioning deviating somewhat from a cultural examination towards sexuality and body politics and chooses one of the most contemporary painters as her inspiration - British painter Jenny Saville.
Saville is known for her larger than life depictions of obese white women that have been slapped with layers of paint and by extension the successful illusion of flesh. Patterson combines these with her own face as well as grids, which may have derived from her previous use of puzzle pieces.
The painting aspect of the work is weak and since it is patterned from an accomplished painter, the comparison is automatic. What is most engaging about the work is the stronger graphic elements of her compositions - the grid and the photocopied self-portraits - especially resolved in an untitled work recently mounted which was originally intended as portfolio work.
Surface is Joyette's strongest element in his ambiguous spatial relationships but it is the miniatures, which do not necessarily contain the human form that are most interesting. On the part of Andrae Green, history and religion enhanced by slight Carravagesque lighting and reasonably sound painting and drawing skills make his collection of paintings coalesce into a strong thematic display.
The paintings are reminiscent of two previous graduates' works, which is certainly not in his favour as he utilises a similar paint technique that he will have to infuse with more of his own uniqueness to overcome this familiarity. Happily, he seems more interested in still-life unlike the two graduates before him.
Students in Visual Communication, a cutting edge and technologically advanced field, have not been able to stretch the limits of creativity sufficiently and convincingly for a number of years now in annual shows.
That said, there is always talent among the group but a few outshine the rest comparatively. Unlike last year where there was a tie between the illustrators and the graphic designers, this year the designers have much stronger displays and most pay attention to not only the individual components but also the collective impact.
Strongest among this group is Omari Smith whose posters convey simple but strong visual messages in his musician management company, "Image Path" while Kibwe Dunn makes the best use of colour taking advantage of its sensory properties. He uses red and black to full effect in his "Scarlet Vodka" promotional campaign.
Of the illustrators, Earl Gary Roumell amply demonstrates his illustration skills unlike his fellow classmates with his "Jamaica Wild" theme of animal portraits especially. On the whole, Stages is somewhat tame as a final year exhibition.
Although the departments of Art Education especially and Textile and Fibre Arts are experiencing a renaissance of sorts, the students' passion for the work they do is not fervent enough.A stage within the students' development, Stages offers only just enough potential and not enough development. The creative impulse has to be much stronger for survival in the art world where the security of school assignments will be absent. The exhibition continues until June 11.
