Anisah Wood’s Residency – Week 1 Blog Post

June 13, 2016June 12, 2016Leave a comment

Recipient of the ‘My Time’ Local Residency 2016, Anisah Wood, shares her first blog post about her time on the Fresh Milk platform. Using this residency as an introduction to the wider art world after completing her BFA at Barbados Community College earlier this year, Anisah has gotten off to a positive start, using the Colleen Lewis Reading Room for research, connecting with fellow resident, Pacific artist Torika Bolatagici, and leading the first session of her Quid Pro Quo skills exchange programme. Read more below:

Showers of blessing.

The studio & Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

As a recent graduate, entering the art arena can seem quite daunting. While some prefer to plunge right in, my preference was to wet my feet first and make gradual strides into deep end of this art world. And they literally got wet on the first day of my My Time Local Residency at Fresh Milk by the torrential rain that drenched the island. Showers of blessing they call it, ringing in the island’s rainy season and my first residency.

During the days that followed I enjoyed making use of the Colleen Lewis Reading Room in my search for inspiration. Another joy was meeting Torika Bolatagici and her wonderful family. As she relayed to me the ins and outs of her home country and the Pacific Islands I was intrigued by the striking similarities between that region and the Caribbean. Another highlight of the week was the first session of the Quid Pro Quo skills exchange. For that session, I shared my knowledge of the game warri and photography. I must admit that I was a bit anxious about taking on the role of host for this session, and about providing a fair exchange of information. However, based on the feedback, the session went well *phew* and I was glad to make two new acquaintances from very diverse backgrounds. I eagerly look forward to informative exchanges over the upcoming weeks.

Quid Pro Quo skills exchange

Learning about warri at the Quid Pro Quo skills exchange

Photo by Anisah Wood.

Now that I have settled in I am hoping for an increase in momentum and intensify my work production. I am intrigued to see how a change in location will inform my work. These next few weeks will be exciting as I make my way to the deep end of the art arena.

Quid Pro Quo: Skills Exchange Programme at Fresh Milk

June 1, 2016June 1, 2016Leave a comment

The winner of this year’s Fresh Milk ‘My Time’ Local Residency, Anisah Wood, will be in residence with us between June 6 and July 1, 2016. As part of her community outreach during her residency, Anisah will be offering the programme Quid Pro Quo – a series of skill-exchanges at the Fresh Milk studio.

Modeled after the Trade School concept, founded in part by New York based artist Caroline Woolard whose practice “explores intersections between art and the solidarity economy,” these sessions will become a non-traditional space of learning and sharing, emphasizing the value of people’s passions and skills.

Quid Pro Quo will be held at Fresh Milk over a period of four weeks, with the first session being held on Friday, June 10, 2016 at 3:00pm.

The programme will be structured as follows:

Each participant must be willing to share either one’s passion, skills or knowledge in exchange for the skills or knowledge of the other participants.

Each participant can offer an option of 2 to 3 topics or skills. For example, Anisah will offer: ‘Digital photography 101’, ‘The art of collage’ and ‘How to play warri and potta (traditional board games)’. Note that what is offered does not have to be art oriented. The idea is simply to share knowledge with the expectation of receiving knowledge in exchange.

The result is at most a 4 for 1 exchange.

The setting in which the information is dispensed will be informal and the manner in which each participant relays the information is completely up to the individual. It can be a discussion, hands on experience, a series of exercises, a presentation etc.

Each participant will select from the options offered what they would like to know from the other participants. The option that receives the most votes will be the one discussed.

Finally, each participant will be assigned a day in which they will give their presentation, with the option of Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Fridays with flexible hours between 3:00-6:00 pm.

There will be a limited number of participants approximately 4-5 in order to allow the exchange to be completed within the duration of the residency.

How to register:

To register, email freshmilkbarbados@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Quid Pro Quo’ and provide your name, contact information and the knowledge to be bartered in exchange for one of the skill-sets Anisah will be offering by June 7, 2016.

From the response, the participants will be selected and informed of their acceptance by June 9, 2016, in time for the initial session on June 10 at 3:00 pm.

During this meeting, each of the participants will be assigned a week from which they will determine what day and time they will be hosting their session. The participants will then vote on the focus of each session based on the options provided.

Announcing the Fresh Milk ‘My Time’ Local Resident Artist 2016 – Anisah Wood

April 15, 2016February 27, 2017Leave a comment

Fresh Milk is very pleased to announce Barbadian artist Anisah Wood as the winner of the Fresh Milk ‘My Time’ Local Residency prize for 2016. Congratulations Anisah!

Anisah’s one-month residency runs from Monday June 6 – Friday July 1, 2016. Her work deals predominantly with the Caribbean landscape and the process of colonialism, particularly the desire to lay claim to and control space. During her residency, she will continue her investigations into the perceptions of her immediate environment and the influence of territoriality on how it is negotiated. She will use this engagement with a fresh environment to stimulate new conceptual ideas.

About Anisah Wood:

Anisah Wood is a visual artist based in Barbados. She is in the process of completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Barbados Community College with a major in Studio Art. Her practice involves video art, digital photography, and installation. She has had the privilege of exhibiting the results of her practice at the Punch Creative Arena, The National Arts Council Barbados and at various national arts competitions.

Artist Statement:

My current body of work maps the transformative effects of territoriality on a physical landscape and the society that engages with such a space. These explorations stem from my immediate environment, the Caribbean region. This region has consistently been labelled a paradise, a description that can be considered an impetus for expressions of territoriality. Therefore, through a multidisciplinary approach, this body of work examines the resultant complex relationships between space and society, and between various societal groups in connection to that space. In addition, while seeking to understand the desire to control a delineated space, the work also questions the authority to lay claim to an area. The work can therefore be considered an alternative vision of the space I occupy.

Anisah Wood, Divine Guardians, 2015.

Anisah Wood, Guardian Dogs, 2014.

Anisah Wood, Borderline, 2014.

Anisah Wood, Fall from Grace, 2015.

Anisah Wood, Boundary Mark, 2014.

Open Call: ‘My Time’ Local Residency 2016

February 29, 2016March 9, 2016Leave a comment

Fresh Milk is pleased to share, for the third year in a row, an open call for the ‘My Time’ Local Residency 2016.

Having again received generous support to make this residency possible, one Barbadian artist will be selected from this call to undertake a one-month residency at Fresh Milk, and will receive a stipend of $1,000.00 BBD towards their production costs. Visual artists working in a variety of disciplines (sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, performance, photography, new media, interdisciplinary) are invited to apply.

We are particularly interested this year in artists whose work reflects on culture, identity and place in ways which fall outside of stereotypical narratives, challenging the notion that culture must be read or represented in a singular way.

Emphasis on a cross-disciplinary approach to research and production is also an area we are interested in supporting; the selected artist will share the studio with an artist, researcher and educator whose work centres around the creation, presentation, promotion and facilitation of critical discourse around contemporary Pacific arts practice. This could be an exciting opportunity for collaboration or cross-pollination of ideas during the shared time on the platform.

Duration of Residency: 4 weeks

FRESH MILK will provide:

– A $1,000.00 BBD stipend to the artist
– Wireless internet
– A 15.5 x 14 ft studio space
– A wide expanse of rural land
– Access to the Colleen Lewis Reading Room on site
– A varied network of creatives to connect with including an international resident artist with whom the successful candidate will share the platform
– The option to participate in a public event showcasing the outcome of the residency

Eligibility criteria:

– Artist must be Barbadian
– Artist must not have taken part in an on-site Fresh Milk Residency within the last 2 years

Expectations of the Artist:

– Artist must come out to the studio a minimum of four days per week between Monday and Friday. Studio access is between 8 am and 6 pm
– Artist must supply their own materials and equipment
– Artist must complete some form of public outreach in relation to the work created during the residency (artist talk/presentation, workshop, exhibition, etc.)
– Artist will be required to keep a weekly blog of their activities and processes, and submit a report to Fresh Milk at the conclusion of the residency
– Artist will be required to donate a piece of work to the donor who made this residency possible

Application Process:

To be considered, please submit the following to freshmilkbarbados@gmail.com with the subject line ‘My Time Local Residency 2016 Proposal’:

– The completed application form which can be downloaded here (includes applicant’s contact information, an artist statement, and full residency proposal)
– An up to date Curriculum Vitae (CV)
– A numbered portfolio of 5-10 images (or 2-3 short videos as the case may be) of recent work
– An index of the portfolio pieces in numerical order, with the title, medium and date listed

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

The deadline for submission is March 28th, 2016. The residency must take place between June 6 – July 1, 2016.

Simone Asia’s Residency – Week 4 Blog Post

May 13, 2015May 21, 2015Leave a comment

Simone Asia, current artist in Fresh Milk’s 2015 ‘My Time’ Local Residency programme, shares her fourth and final blog post. This week Simone drew on experiences she has garnered throughout the residency, giving them an ethereal perspective based on the elements and their symbolism. Continuing to experiment with colour, materials and techniques has been critical to her time here, and led to artistic discovery and growth. Read more below:

This was the final week of the residency, and overall I think I have benefited from this experience.

I did not go ahead with a wall drawing this time around. However, I experimented with shapes that I cut out to use as minimal collages. I wanted to explore the theme of elements that affected me either positively or negatively while I was here on site. These elements were water, earth and wind.

My thought process was initiated by the element of water. It affected my life by damaging most of my devices, while the rain affected my mood and joints. On a positive note, my experience at Fresh Milk led me to be more connected to nature (the element of earth) which is my elemental sign. I appreciated my natural environment more which made me feel calm and collected. The third was the element of air. The wind played games with me. Some days I would feel its lack of presence while other days its presence was overwhelming, knocking down all of my work on the wall which became very frustrating when I wanted to focus.

In order to express these elements, I referenced the platonic solids: the icosahedron, the cube and the octahedron, which represent the elements water, earth and wind respectively. I wondered if I should have used the element of fire – the tetrahedron – because I was affected a bit by fire later in the week. It is the dry season now and many fires happen. The presence of smoke affects my sinuses a lot and I was having issues all week. The pyromaniacs come out around this year, they use the sun as an excuse to burn the cane trash and bushy areas, but ironically most fires happen at night. Maybe I should have introduced the element of fire in my drawings… I feel perplexed. I always stress over small things.

I tried creating on vellum for the first time and found out it is a very tricky surface to use. Pigment liners, ink and vellum do not have a solid and stable marriage. The vellum does not allow any type of ink to dry onto its surface, so many times my hand would smudge the lines I made. I tried to avoid touching the parts I drew and I went as far as leaving it overnight so it would dry. The next day the marks and lines I made literally melted on the vellum – it was bizarre. I did not like it at first because I like to control the things I create, but afterwards I grew fond of the melted marks and smudges. It worked well with the drawing, giving a nice contrast where the water sign lay. It suited it more than what I had originally done. I did other abstract drawings utilizing the symbols, and I liked them a lot. I grew very fond of this work I made here in the studio. I think I am becoming more comfortable with using colour.

To my surprise, I saw Bambee this week. We stared at each other for a while as she lay in the dirt. I stood beyond the electric line, not getting too close. I had not seen her in a while. I think I saw some sadness in her eyes; maybe she will miss me. Maybe I am just delusional. This is a cow who does not share these thoughts. Oh well…

Overall I think my four weeks at the farm were productive. I enjoyed meeting all the international resident artists and other local visitors. I enjoyed the conversations with the Fresh Milk members and volunteers. My experimentation with colour and collage is a start to a new segment of my artistic journey.

I am happy with my progress. I want to thank Annalee Davis and the entire Fresh Milk team for the opportunity.