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Kali-Sophia (The Wraith)

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Artist Biography

I recall drawing as a constant obsession throughout my childhood. My later interest in painting was focused by an early introduction to the history of painting. As a teenager I would visit reference libraries - hunting for books on art and poetry.​

I remember tomes on the High Renaissance and the Baroque; and being immediately struck by the force and sensuality of the images. Titian and Caravaggio were especially transcendent for me- the violent compositions, the immediacy of expression, and of course, the "mystery" of oil paint. But method was just a minor part of the fascination. I think that my interest in the Masters has always been “psychological”- that what is called the “unconscious” by Freud or the “numinous” by others is often powerfully embodied in these images. Look at late Titian- here was a man, (a devout Catholic ?) whose depictions of flesh and interpretations of classical myth and religious allegory; give reign to the darkest and most ‘licentious’ imperatives of the body. I believe that it is this tension between what a human being is- at its primordial core, and the artificiality forced upon it by the dictates of civilization that inspires the archetypal concerns of art.

​I went on to study painting at the Edna Manley College of the Visual Arts in Kingston, graduating in 2001. I was then invited to intern with the curatorial department of the National Gallery of Jamaica. During this period I maintained a studio in the notoriously crime ridden precincts of downtown Kingston. I worked at night- as the main business district of the capital was being abandoned for the "safety" of St. Andrew. My days at the Gallery helped me to expand my understanding of the history of Jamaican and Caribbean art. Later I would begin to confront the broader developments of contemporary art.

​​In 2001 the international art world was ablaze with the antics of the YBAs (Young British Artists). I was more interested in the painted corporeality of Francis Bacon, than any installation showcasing actual rotting flesh. Despite my “traditional” influences, my paintings were not traditionally painted- the approach was more pared down, more minimal. I couldn’t identify totally with the traditionalists and I was utterly bored by the conceptual work that was being hyped by the magazines and the museums. I found my path slowly by plunging into the past and by exploring the obscure recesses of my imagination. I went back to the old masters with a scalpel- excised what I required, and jettisoned the dross. I then looked around at the many important photographers and filmmakers who continue to do innovative and yet deeply poignant things with images- artists like Joel Peter-Witkin or David Lynch.​
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​​​In 2002 I was invited to participate in "Young Talent 2002" at the National Gallery of Jamaica. My work was well received and I have continued to exhibit in Jamaica, the Caribbean and the UK. In 2011, I completed an extended residency in downtown Kingston. The historic heart of the city is now the epicenter of an urban re-invigoration campaign- where a number of disused commercial spaces are being transformed into contemporary art venues.

Artist Statement

One senses that the history of the world after the optimism of modernity, has given birth to an almost universal atmosphere of uncertainty and psychic exposure. This decomposition of hitherto self-confident modes of thinking and self-making, presents a clearing for me- this is a fissure in consciousness, a place where images can emerge. And so it seems natural that my work continues to be concerned with cycles of vulnerability and aggression; dissolution and reconstruction; creation and obliteration. For my purposes, painting and drawing act as parts of a continuum of image-making strategies. It follows that grappling with problems of the materiality of paint, issues of scale, the dilemmas of subject and method- remain central to the sought after fusion of form and content. Of course, this presupposes that such “fusion” is even required, possible or demonstrable. Ideally, the difficulty and resistance of the process (drawing, painting, erasure, scoring, sanding, repainting and so on) would remain on the surface of the painting as evidence of an interminable search. The work always begins with a compound and assembly of images- these could be drawings, photographs, printed material or an analysis of film or video. The painted or drawn transformation is inevitably a process of making and unmasking, confirmation and contamination. The relative unpredictability of paint- is often set against my desire to be specific or descriptive. I tell myself that this tension is a reflection of inner processes- psychological imperatives embodied in paint. But of course, matters are rarely as straightforward as this. I accept that painting has its histories- the western tradition is but one among them. I have chosen to identify with it because it encompasses so many great works that continue to baffle and excite me. In our time, the image is a weightless, ubiquitous, super-fast commodity- attributes that may at first seem antithetical to painting. Of course, I want to underline that my activities with paint could never exist without images. As such, the influence of images is a fundamental part of the fabric of experiences that define our contemporary consciousness. Ultimately the image must be subsumed in a painterly vocabulary. And yet one can never fully anticipate how the translation of reference into paint activates a work's final psychological or emotional resonance. I want to argue for painting as a means of elaborating an alternative “real”. A real constructed to reflect a more fundamental and mysterious brand of truthfulness- a subjective truth. In the end we may discover, that what we dredge up are mere figments- instincts and obsessions that both confirm and collapse our expectations about what it means to be human in the twenty first century