Rain Shelter Location: Barbados trailway, Carmichael Crossing, St. George
Photos by Dondré Trotman
Anna Gibson
About Anna: I’m a Barbadian contemporary artist who explores multiple mediums, crafting images of body manipulation through realism and expressionism. I have been practicing for over 5 years completing my Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts (2017). I have been able to participate in some local (Barbados) group exhibitions at The Punch Creative Arena, UN women ‘1in3 Art Exhibition’ at the UN House Barbados, ‘Young Artist’ at The Barbados Arts Council Art Gallery and more.
My artwork is routed in exploring women’s’ bodies and their relationship between our cultural, racial, and social environment. Focusing on insecurities, my artwork explores and exposes the vulnerabilities women have about their differences to each other, and how they seek to mentally and physically mask or morph their bodies, in an obsessive process of evolving, using various beautification methods to achieve acceptance.
About the ArtWork:
In response to this project’s agenda of valuing our natural environment and taking mental comfort in its properties, I decided to depict an interactive space between us and nature. Due to the pandemic, we have been restricted and confined in various ways, especially with the constant presence of the mask, which feels like it has become a big indicator of the surreal timeline we are living right now. Using the mask as an analogy of inhaling and exhaling, I focused on creating imagery with movement and lightness to ease the mental suffocation that the mask represents.
Aiming to create an escape, the first piece depicts two carefree girls playing amongst the clouds with leaves floating around them and a lingering mask lightly supporting their flight. Innocence and bliss are depicted in the children’s happy smiles while their surroundings are magnified and surreal, exploring a childlike perspective of possibilities.
Exploring that innocent curiosity more, I started thinking of nostalgic activities that relay how happy, carefree, and energetic most childhoods are. Playing with bubbles came to mind as they float and bop reflecting hopeful rainbows. Using a big bubble as a barrier, the second piece depicts a child happily popping that bubble, inviting exploration outside of our quarantined zones.
I hope these images can encourage, new adventure and appreciation for the small pleasures in life, as those can be a comfort even if everything else is spiralling out of control.
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