Fresh Milk is excited to welcome our next two local residents for 2016, Barbadian artists Leann Edghill and Raquel Marshall, who will be on the platform between September 5 – 30, 2016. Their residency is generously supported by the Central Bank of Barbados.

During the one-month residency, Leann will continue her series of work  which explores the naivety of ‘Barbie and her friends’, whose perfect fantasy world she has previously collided with historical, real-world events, this time using a more local Barbadian context. Raquel’s work will be exploring the effects of alcoholism and addictive behaviours, particularly the denial that is often encountered in relation to these issues, which are sometimes accepted or even celebrated.

About Leann:

Leann Edghill is a twenty-three year old Barbadian artist working predominantly with painting. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Barbados Community College in 2015. Edghill is currently a member of two art communities in Barbados: ‘Strokes’, a group of artists that hosts annual art exhibitions, and the Barbados Arts Council. Edghill’s artwork uses monochromatic colour schemes, minimal pop art structures, simplistic shapes and symmetry, breaking down images to minimalist forms.

Her current body of work uses imagery of Barbie dolls, making reference to her childhood, which she inserts into visual representations of major events that have occurred over the years from 1959 (the year Barbie was first introduced) to present day . Although a number of significant historical events have taken place, whether positive or negative, the character of ‘Barbie’ remained unaffected, living her own fantasy with no regard for the world around her or her impact on young girls.

Edghill also has a love for makeup artistry, and has combined this with her skills as a painter to create designs through body-painting, which is another aspect of her artistic practice.

About Raquel:

Barbadian born Raquel Marshall is an artist who is slowly returning to the national arena. For the past decade or so she has dedicated her time to her family while also working as an office administrator and private art tutor. Marshall is a mother of two boys and shares her love of art with her husband, Nicky Marshall.

Marshall prefers to use images rather than words to express her experiences and feelings, and much of her work is an overflow of situations, thoughts, and concerns, both past and present. Her pet themes deal with racial issues, women’s issues, spirituality, alcoholism and escapism.  Although serious topics, she portrays them in playful ways.

Since graduating from the Barbados Community College in 1998 with a Bachelors in Fine Arts (First Class Honours), she has had the privilege of exhibiting locally and internationally, including in London, France, Cuba and Belgium, mainly working in assemblages and printmaking. In college she discovered the work of Robert Rauschenberg and Joseph Cornell, who inspired her and set the foundation for her work at an early stage. Marshall also paints, and is currently experimenting with video, sound and photography. She draws on any technique that will help her achieve her vision and is not afraid to adapt, learn something new or collaborate.

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This residency is sponsored by the Central Bank of Barbados