Akilah Watts
Akilah works with a number of media including drawing, painting, mixed media, sculpture as well as high and low relief paintings.
Some of her works deal with pop culture and cultural exchange as well as Barbadian folklore and traditions through ideas of play and souvenirs. Watts’ new works touch on issues such as race, culture as well as ideas of belonging and beauty.
The exhibition will be open to the public on Wednesday March 10th.
The theme of the exhibition is an exploration of different and uncommon expressions of Caribbean identity, with a focus on exploratory traditional and digital art.
VIEW AND PURCHASE
Akilah Watts
Alex Gibson
Brandon K Best
Housing Area
John Alleyne
Sydney McConney
Curated by Zoe Osborne
Exploratory Traditional
As we move further and further away from the generations that created what has been deemed ‘tradition’ in Barbados and the Caribbean I am on a search to identify the narratives that are currently being produced by Caribbean artists today. Exploratory Traditional is therefore work that has a connection with traditional Caribbean imagery or stories but is realized in a modern context that reflects the artist and engages the viewer in an unprecedented way.
Digital
There are different narratives of what is considered the ‘Bajan’ or ‘Caribbean’ experience and one common narrative that has been developing is the digital art. Digital illustrations expressing Caribbean are a new form of art that allow for new and innovate ways for new generations of the Caribbean population and diaspora to connect with.