Please introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about where in the region you are based, and share some of the major ideas and themes you engage with in your practice.

My name is Versia Harris, from Barbados. Some of what I explore includes fantasy, story, perception, and the mysterious through a range of mediums including, drawing, animation, painting, printmaking, photography and installation. I like to think about and imagine fantastical things existing in and happening to our mundane/everyday landscape.

Fantasy and by extension multimedia experimentation that allows you to challenge perception in a plethora of ways play a huge role in your work. How important is the ability to experiment freely with both concepts and materials in your practice, and what kinds of techniques or approaches have you been able to take since receiving the TENDER grant last year?

It is indeed very important, nothing new is ever discovered unless there is the freedom to mess around. Even with work that is technically “finished,” a medium like video/digital/projection allows for experimentation to continue indefinitely. I often find myself trying something new because I like the feeling of discovery; a new technique, way of working, or material. Being at the beginning of a skill is, for me, the most exciting place, so I like playing around with a lot of different possibilities. Since receiving the grant, I’ve started using a wider range of paint and drawing materials such as ink, bleach and gouache.

In addition to initiatives like TENDER, what other kinds of support or programming geared towards the needs of contemporary creative practitioners would you like to see implemented in the Caribbean?

A grant programme that helps Caribbean artists with exhibition travel expenses, residency fees, education and with their projects. It would be great to also have subsidised studio spaces.

Read more from our 2024 TENDER Grantees here!