Thirty years ago I began a collection of paintings and sculptures titled Daughters of the Caribbean Sun. The series continues from my studio here in Dominica and now comprises of hundreds of paintings and scores of sculptures.
My objective is to the give the Afro-Caribbean woman the courage of her own visual identity rather than following foreign concepts of beauty. Over the years my work has influenced magazine content and the judging of beauty contests. No longer does the model that has straightened her hair, lightened her skin tone and disguised her facial features have it all her own way.
Hurricane Maria sent many of my best Dominican models scurrying overseas and the current Corona Virus has kept them there. As a result, my search for the next “Daughter of the Caribbean Sun” is an on-going process. It begins with a preliminary studio visit which can then be followed by a regular modelling session. Although I pay my models well, they tell me that their lasting reward comes from being part of the creative process and an increase in their self-confidence.
My subjects are not professional models but real people. Over the years I have found them carrying bananas down the steep hillsides, bathing in the rivers and selling mangoes by the roadside. You can add: college students, cashiers, doctors, poets, and a truck driver.
In an effort to capture the female figure in all its moods and changes, I have developed a rapid way of working with watercolours. This enables me to record the fleeting vision that I see out of the corner of my eye. My painting sessions last no longer than one and a half hours. By the end of that time I am exhausted and my model has begun to wilt. Not that I expect my models to hold a rigid pose; no one can for longer than few seconds. In fact, I encourage my models not to pose in the accepted sense but to twist and turn as they please. It is in the split second that the model moves from one position to the next that I see a position that otherwise would have eluded me.
My blog: sculpturestudiodominica.blogspot.com is a good place to find out more about my work. It has won awards and has a regular following of thousands of artists and art students from around the world. Since the Corona Pandemic my audience has increased dramatically in terms of general interest.
For further information about modelling please email: [email protected]
Or telephone/text: 225-5470/615-5010.
