Caribbean Linked II Artist Blogs: Veronica Dorsett

September 15, 2013May 20, 2015Leave a comment

Bahamian artist, Veronica Dorsett writes about her experience during the Caribbean Linked II residency programme at Ateliers ’89, Aruba. Dorsett reflects on moments of anticipation and how her hopes for moving forward in her work were propelled to a new level during the residency. Her intimate connection to the resident artists, the Aruban landscape and culture provoked an awakening in her that she didn’t foresee. Learn more about Caribbean Linked and Dorsett’s awakening here.

Veronica Dorsett in Aruba. Photographs courtesy of Shirley Rufin and Omar Kuwas.

Dear Aruba…
As we close our eyes at night, the conscious or subconscious hopes of a sweet dream are as defined as the hazy nothingness most of us conjure up. We dabble in thought before drifting off and most times with no real focus on any one thing we create a beautiful myriad of fragmented images. These images then cluster together delving us into a dreamlike state where, if you’re lucky, you’ll find Elvis Lopez, a couple of Arubans with a botched pick-up truck named ‘the Bronco’, 7 strangers, a couple of wine bottles – well, maybe more than a couple – and an empty art gallery begging to be filled. Yup, for me, being in Aruba simply felt like an extended dream that I quite honestly wish lasted just a little bit longer.

As my plane landed on this Happy Little Island, I quickly wrote down a few random thoughts and they were along the lines of the following:

Veronica’s notes.

I think it’s safe to say that by the end of that note, my dream had begun.

Arriving on the island from a ‘tourists’’ perspective was one thing, but experiencing “Aruba” for what it truly is with the local resident artists (Robin De Vogel, Germille Geerman and Kevin Schuit) was unforgettable. Seeing the raw beauty of the island allowed each of the visiting artists to find direct comparisons to “home”; and yet in the same breath, allowed us to uncover the distinct differences that exists between our islands.

Throughout the residency, as the baby of the group, I found myself very aware of my own personal search for my ‘style’ or my ‘tool’ as a budding artist. This residency became a major stepping stone in my career as I battled through uncertainty and sheer confusion for seven days straight. My lack of focus and frustration with my inability to even ‘create’ a focal point from everything Aruba had to offer brought me to a low where I simply felt defeated. Fortunately, I was able to talk to the other artists around me and draw from them their perspectives and words of advice to help me find my way. The short talks I had with each of them allowed me to accept my “lack of focus” as my “focal point” by taking all these ideas and experiences and combining them into a simple form that I could engage with – a black hole with a few ‘strings attached’. This form allowed me to create an answer to all my questions and combining it with random objects I had found as I walked through Aruba along with magazine cutouts pushed me into a realm of ‘organized clutter’.

Veronica’s work – Focus for Caribbean Linked.

The studio visits to local artists Ciro Abath, Osaira Muyale and Glenda Heyliger were crucial to my process during as well as after this residency at Atelier89. I keenly remember the sketches and models from Ciro’s studio along with the “all blue everything” sculpture’s at Osaira’s studio; both of which tapped into a sculptural craving I had somehow I forgotten I had. Seeing their work once again forced me to question whether I was using the right ‘tool’ or medium to create my work. And ‘Oh, Glenda’, who could forget Glenda? She definitely impacted me on an emotional level and boosted my confidence as she urged me to not be afraid of releasing my fears and most honest opinions within my work.

Veronica’s Collages from Focus for Caribbean Linked.

The dreamlike state that I continually found myself in was only encouraged by the drama free environment we all shared. It all came together in a magical way where we enjoyed one another’s company and made the most out of each day. Much of the nightlife was quite similar to home for me with one of my favorites being our night at ‘Don Pincho’ where we had either chicken, shrimp or mixed ‘pincho’s’ or what we like to call in the Bahamas “shish kabobs”. After that bellyful, we then danced the night away or at least everyone else danced while Mark King (Barbados) and I were attempting to master the ‘Bachata’ with the help of Omar Kuwas and Shirley Rufin who was our dancing queen of the night!

Veronica installing work for Caribbean Linked II

Another ‘exciting’ memory was made when a random dog charged at me as we were heading to a restaurant for dinner and I ever so “gracefully” (as Rodell Warner from Trinidad put it) leapt into Omar Kuwas’ (Curacao) arms out of complete and utter fear. Thankfully, the dog retreated and no one (except for Omar’s back) was hurt. In light of the moment we were given the nicknames “Shaggy and Scooby” and it became one of those classic moments that were unfortunately not caught on camera!

Resident artists at Don Pincho

I can honestly say that this residency in Aruba has not only catapulted my thinking in a new direction but it has inspired me to share my practice more openly within my own community. For me, the concept alone of linking a group of people who all share a commonality through the Caribbean region and diaspora is an amazing opportunity that should be seized time and time again. The connections we have made will not only insure growth but it will also help create a stronger definitive of that which is ‘Caribbean’.

Boundaries have been broken, spirits have been lifted, a few wine bottles have been popped open and this dream has finally become reality.
To all my follow resident artists, the curators and most affectionately to Elvis Lopez, until next time!

Sincerely,

Your Bahamian Sister.
Veronica Vo Dorsett

Ateliers ’89 director, the extraordinary Elvis Lopez.

About Veronica Dorsett:

Veronica Dorsett was born in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas on November 20th, 1992. Currently living in Nassau, Bahamas as a student of the College of the Bahamas, Dorsett received an associate’s degree in art in the fall of 2012. She is primarily an installation artist but also shares a great interest in sculptural, ceramic and mixed media works. As a recent recipient of the 2012 Popopstudios ICVA Junior Residency Prize, she hopes the opportunity will push her work in a whole new direction as she aims to pursue a BFA in Sculpture in 2013.

CARIBBEAN LINKED II is a residency programme and exhibition organized by Ateliers ’89 Foundation in collaboration with ARC Inc. and The Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc. and funded by the Mondriaan Foundation. The programme took place from August 25th through September 6th, 2013 in Oranjestad, Aruba.

Casa Tomada Promotes ‘fresh casa’

September 12, 2013May 20, 2015Leave a comment

Participating artists include Shanika Grimes and Katherine Kennedy from Barbados, and Flora Leite from Brazil. As well as a week of taking part in a mentoring programme and interacting with the Brazilian arts scene, the three artists will be presenting their work at Casa Tomada on Friday, September 20th at 7:00 pm.

Additionally, Barbadian artist Evan Avery has designed a graphic to be installed as an adhesive decal as a part of Casa Tomada’s ‘A Casa Recebe‘ project – a street facing window which presents works by visual artists working in Brazil and internationally. This work will be on display until March 2014.

Thanks to the Arts and Sport Promotion Fund, The Ministry of Finance, Barbados for supporting this project.

Local Residency Announcement: Sky LARC and Adrian Green

September 11, 2013May 20, 2015Leave a comment

FRESH MILK is pleased to announce the start of our final local residency for 2013 from our open call early this year. Taking the platform are filmmaker Sky LARC and spoken word artist Adrian Green.

LARC and Green will be collaborating on a project which explores Caribbean Aesthetics in art processes and utilizes the disciplines of Creative Writing, Cinematography, Photography, Performance Art, Spoken Word and Music.

The work concretizes the creative relationship between the two artists essentially cut from the same cloth, Kente Cloth. They come together as the Collective PTAH, an entity that uses their chosen disciplines, Performance Art and Visual Art to heighten awareness, stimulate consciousness and affect change.

The proposed piece is essentially a short film, somewhat experimental, evolving from the work and performance of Poet Adrian Green and his original piece “Hartd Work”. The creation of this short film is also inspired by the exploration of the Fresh Milk space and other working artist spaces.

Thank you to the Arts and Sport Promotion Fund for supporting this residency.

About Sky LARC:

Born in Toronto Canada to Barbadian parents, LARC as he’s affectionately known to most is a filmmaker, arts educator and community activist. After the year of the gun in Toronto (2005) LARC decided that it was critical to play a small role in creating safe spaces where young people could acquire skills while discovering positive outlets of expression. He started by designing and facilitating filmmaking workshops in low-income, inner-city communities where he began to link many of the current issues faced by youth to a lack of leadership/mentorship in the community. He also noticed a real lack of ancestral/family values and connections with the many gang related black youth he worked with daily. His community work intensified, spreading out to various public housing communities across Toronto from Community Centers to Elementary, Middle School to High Schools.

LARC is developing a feature documentary entitled Hidden Bruises: HIV & Violence in the Caribbean, a documentary and awareness campaign contributing to the national and regional effort to reduce the prevalence of both HIV & violence against women in the Caribbean.

He continues his arts education and filmmaking work in the Caribbean at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados; coupled with his independent company Skylarc Pictures through the First Light Project Arts Education program.

About Adrian Green:

Adrian Green at Carifesta X

Adrian Green is a Gold Award winner in Barbados’ National Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA), a three time Barbadian Slam Poetry Champion, and two time winner of the Emancipation Roots Experience Show. Green represented Barbados at CARIFESTA X in Guyana and has performed to audiences in several countries, including the USA, Ghana, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica, Nevis, St. Thomas and Tortola. He has released two albums of poetry, “Random Acts of Conscience,” and “Hard Ears.”

As the co-founder of Iron Sharpen Iron, Green has been instrumental in producing the longest running and most successful open-mic show in Barbados. These open-mic shows were designed to help emerging performing artists develop and have been instrumental in the uncovering and propelling of a number of young artists to the national stage.

Fresh Performance Chapter 5: How Performance Communicates

September 6, 2013June 9, 2015Leave a comment

FRESH MILK in collaboration with Damali Abrams presents Chapter 5 in the Fresh Performance Project: How Performance Communicates

I think that art is above all a form of communication. As much as I derive great pleasure from the mere act of making, no work feels complete to me until I share it with someone else. For artists who utilize performance, that communication has the potential for deep levels of intimacy. Performance can include one’s voice and body and energy with a sense of immediacy not always available through other mediums, as well as extreme vulnerability.

Both Zachary Fabri and Michelle Isava use performance to communicate their personal experiences. Zachary’s work largely pulls from the Black experience in the U.S. while Michelle’s work explores her concerns a as a young Trinidadian woman. A lot of Michelle’s work is very raw and visceral as she places her body in various scenarios, combines herself with technological machines, lays her body on the ground and interacts with the landscape. Zachary inserts his body in spaces throughout various New York City communities in order to make political statements. Sitting on a street corner or running down the block with helium balloons tied to his knee-length locs, leading visitors through exercises in popular museum lobbies or pushing himself down the streets of Alphabet City in a milk crate on wheels.

Ironically or (aptly?), I had more communication problems trying to schedule interviews with these two artists than with any of the prior chapters. Whether it was travel or just the usual drama of life, it was a feat trying to find a moment when I could speak with Zachary and Michelle. However, when we were finally able to connect, both conversations were fruitful and informative. I was curious about the way that these artists consider communication with viewers throughout their creative processes. It was interesting to hear Michelle talk about the differences between performing in Trinidad, Venezuela and Germany. Of course the same gesture can communicate very differently in different cultures. Zachary spoke about the way that viewers of different races experience his work and the ways that affects his practice.

I continue to learn through this project that artists turn to performance when what they seek to communicate will not manifest through any other form. In grad school I learned that in order to be effective, art has to have the intention to communicate something specific, something beyond that pleasure of making. Both Zachary and Michelle have powerful intentions that they communicate very clearly through their work and I hope that I have been able to communicate that as clearly through this video.

– Damali Abrams

About Michelle Isava:

Michelle Isava (born 1985) holds dual nationality from Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela. She is a conceptual artist who straddles across different mediums and genres to place the priority on message and experience. She experiments with drawing, painting, installation and video because she believes the message should decide the mode of expression. Her interests lie in the body as an object, and what it has the potential to reveal or betray about the subject.

About Zachary Fabri:

Zachary Fabri was born in Miami, Florida in 1977. His mother is Jamaican and his father is Hungarian. In 2007, he received his Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College in combined media. His work mines the intersection of personal and political spaces, often responding to a specific environment or context. Zachary’s work has been exhibited at Sequences Real-time Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland; Nordic Biennale: Momentum, Moss, Norway; Gallery Open, Berlin; the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, New York; the Jersey City Museum, and El Museo del Barrio, New York, The Studio Museum in Harlem, and The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. He is a recipient of the Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art in 2011 and was awarded a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in interdisciplinary work in 2012. Recent solo exhibitions include Third Streaming in New York City and Real Art Ways, in Hartford, Connecticut. He lives and works in Brooklyn.

The NCF and Fresh Milk in collaboration with Casa Tomada present ‘fresh casa’

September 4, 2013September 3, 2013Leave a comment

The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) and the Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc., in collaboration with Casa Tomada of Sao Paulo, Brazil present fresh casa which will take place in Sao Paulo from September 14^th – 21^st 2013. The project has three goals. Firstly, two young Barbadian artists, Shanika Grimes and Katherine Kennedy will participate in a mentoring programme hosted by Casa Tomada and focussing on the professionalization of artists, which will see the presentation of their art work as the focus of their one week intensive residency experience.

Grimes and Kennedy will be mentored by Brazilian arts professionals including professors, curators and critics, who are regularly engaged with Sao Paulo based creatives who focus on Performance Art, Sculpture and Installation. In addition, the young Barbadian artists will interact with Brazilian artists currently working out of Casa Tomada. At the end of the week, the Barbadian artists will make an oral presentation about their practice to a local Brazilian audience.

Secondly, Barbadian artist Evan Avery will design a graphic to be installed as an adhesive decal into Casa Tomada’s ‘A Casa Recebe’ – a street facing window which presents works by visual artists working in Brazil and internationally.

Thirdly, in a programme designed collaboratively by Fresh Milk and Casa Tomada for senior officials at the NCF, the artists will visit contemporary art spaces and meetcritics, gallerists and curators, allowing both the officials and the artists to gain an understanding of the contemporary art space in Sao Paulo. For example, they will attend the opening of ‘30 x bienal- Transformations in Brazilian art from the 1^st to the 30^th edition’ at Parque Ibirapuera, the home of the Sao Paulo Bienal. Visits to contemporary commercial galleries, informal artist led initiatives, as well as museums, will form part of the dynamic programme.

Finally, a tour of Videobrasil will be coordinated for NCF delegates and the young artists. Videobrasil was present at the recently hosted e-Create symposium in Barbados last April. They are dedicated to the fostering, dissemination and mapping of contemporary art, as well as the public cultural promotion and exchange between artists, curators and researchers. Videobrasil devotes special attention to the production of the geopolitical South and supports an active network of international corporations which now include working with Barbadian entities to open up opportunities for Caribbean creatives.

Delegates from the NCF include the Chief Cultural Officer, Mrs Andrea Wells, Corporate Communications Specialist Ms Simone Codrington and Senior Business Development Officer, Ms Alison Sealy-Smith. fresh casa is funded by the Art and Sport Promotion Fund, Ministry of Finance, Barbados.

About Shanika Grimes:

Shanika Grimes completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Barbados Community college in 2012, while juggling the birth of her now two year old son. She displayed a proficiency in the arts from a very young age despite the pull of the business oriented society in which she lives. Shanika works in a variety of two dimensional formats and has more recently extended her practice to the realm of performance art, which is documented and presented through video or photography. She has acquired several gold and silver awards and a nomination for the Prime Minister’s award at Barbados’ national fine arts competition NIFCA. She focuses on an examination of self, which she uses as a catalyst for a barrage of ideas including, but not limited to, gender, culture and relationships.

In January 2013, she took part in a residency at Alice Yard, Trinidad, where she was paired with Trinidadian performance artist Michelle Isava and produced work individually and collaboratively.

Shanika Grimes - Still from Residency at Alice Yard

About Katherine Kennedy:

Katherine Kennedy is an artist and writer. She graduated from Lancaster University, UK with a degree in Creative Arts; her combined major of Fine Art and Creative Writing helped develop her keen interests in both visual and literary pursuits. She has won multiple awards for her artwork and writing in her home Barbados, and has exhibited internationally in London. Since returning home, she has remained immersed in creativity, completing a local artist residency, contributing to ARC Magazine by writing for their online forum and assisting the Editor-In-Chief, and working with the Fresh Milk Art Platform as Assistant to Director. Her visual practice is heavily tied to a sense of place, and often deals with interplay between found organic and inorganic objects, used as a way of asserting cultural identity in different environments.

Katherine travelled to the Instituto Buena Bista (IBB), Curaçao in November 2012 to take part in a two week collaborative project between the IBB and Fresh Milk, and undertook a residency at The Vermont Studio Center in May 2013.

Katherine Kennedy - Stalks installed on a brick wall

About Evan Avery:

Evan Avery is a young, Barbadian artist and a 2012 graduate of the Barbados Community College, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. His primary medium is acrylic paint; working with flat, bright colours, he creates compositions with his original characters ‘the Miniis’, which he uses to represent himself or others, as well as events or things of significance in his life. He says there is “no right or wrong way” to read his work, as he wants the viewer to exercise their own imagination in their interpretation: “The best part about being given an image without a story is in making your own. I create the work for me; it’s up to you to make it yours.”

Evan hopes to create a business, transferring his characters and ideas onto clothing and other objects as a means to share the ‘Miniis’ with people all over the world. “Miniis make people smile, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.”

About Casa Tomada

Created in October 2009, Casa Tomada is an independent spaced dedicated to practice, investigation and reflections of artistic nature. The project emerged from the desire to build a space that was a convergence point among the various fields in arts, discussing the hybridism of languages in the contemporary artistic processes. Focused in all the process of production and not just the final artistic product, Casa Tomada encourages the debate of young contemporary art, not only stimulating the development of artistic and theoretical work motivated by the shared experience, but acting as a catalyst space of experiences of connection among artists, art thinkers and other independent initiatives. Casa Tomada’s projects include:

Open Studio: Semester program for young artists and researchers (art criticism, curatorship and art history focus). The program proposes interchange among artists and art thinkers, stimulating one another in their own art production.

The House Hosts: A program that stimulates the interchange of independent art spaces and promotes the broadcasting of artistic publications. It has the objective enhance the relationship networks of these artistic centers with independent ones.

Portfolio’s Cycle: Annual program in which young artists and researchers currently performing in Sao Paulo are invited to present their portfolios taking advantage of the informal infrastructure of Casa Tomada for an open discussion.

About Fresh Milk

The Fresh Milk Art Platform Inc. is a Caribbean non-profit, artist-led, inter-disciplinary organization that supports creatives and promotes wise social, economic, and environmental stewardship through creative engagement with society and by cultivating excellence in the arts. The idea for Fresh Milk developed over years of conversations with other practicing artists around the need for artistic engagement amongst contemporary practitioners living and working in Barbados, with an expressed need to strengthen links with the region and the diaspora. Fresh Milk bridges the divides between creative disciplines, generations of creatives, and works across all linguistic territories in the region – functioning as a cultural lab, constantly redefining itself. The platform transforms into a gathering space for contemporary creatives who are thirsty to debate ideas and share works through local and international residencies, lectures, screenings, workshops, exhibitions, projects etc.

About the NCF

The National Cultural Foundation (NCF) is a statutory body established by an Act of Parliament in 1983. Its mandate is to oversee the cultural landscape of Barbados.

Mission: To fuel the development of culture through training, research and the creation of opportunities in cultural industries.

The Role of the NCF: The NCF’s two major roles are: developmental and commercial. In its developmental role, the Foundation uses culture as a tool for national development, fostering and supporting the various art forms and new cultural products. In its commercial role, the Foundation is responsible for the promotion, production and hosting of cultural festivals and associated events.