Kraig Yearwood’s Residency – Week 3 Blog Post

Barbadian artist Kraig Yearwood shares his third blog post about his Fresh Milk ‘My Time’ Local Residency. Things began to come together both materially and conceptually for Kraig this week, having investigated the properties of concrete and experimented with how it behaves both on its own as well as in combination with other elements. He also had the opportunity to have a studio visit with Natalie McGuire, manager at the Barbados branch of Gallery NuEdge, where he expanded on his ideas around consumption, mass manufacturing and materialism. Read more below:

A detailed view of Aquifer

Week number 3 at Fresh Milk has been a mixed bag; and if I’m being totally honest, a bit disjointed.

Happily, I’ve really started to get a handle on how the concrete reacts, and as such a better understanding of its characteristics, possibilities and limitations. While I’m loving all its various textural nuances and the ability to embed various materials, getting accustomed to the materials’ prep and drying times has been a challenge since I am not used to using mediums with long drying times. Perhaps this stems from primarily utilizing a hairdryer for most of my acrylic works. This is my preferred method of hurrying the drying process, out of a little impatience and eagerness to allow additions to be made to artwork. However, I am getting used to the wait.

In addition, I’m gaining more clarity conceptually, relative to overall directions I wish to take, on individual pieces I’m working to resolve, and those I have yet to get started on. On Saturday, I was privileged to have a studio visit with Natalie McGuire, Gallery Manager at Gallery NuEdge, where we discussed the themes that I’m currently working on. I’m interested in using a broader theme of “the shifting philosophies of the traditional Caribbean landscape to one which is littered not only physically but figuratively as well.” The land is becoming a mirror for the mindsets of our people. This main theme of interest is accompanied by satellite themes of consumption, mass manufacturing and materialism.

Work in progress Aquifer

It’s amazing how time flies. At the onset, a month seemed a long time, but with one week left I’ve constantly been feeling like I need to do more. This week I’ve found it hard to balance my output and expectations with all the other projects and commitments outside of the residency. It was only after a chat with an art colleague, that I was reminded that we are artists and not machines, that sometimes things happen in their own time.

So…it’s with that timely reminder that I go into my final week with renewed energy and a plan to focus on things that can realistically be completed by week’s end; with the knowledge that as the residency comes to a close, that the exploration has only just begun.