22.06.25 - WindrushDay.

The reason I work the way I do is because of my parents. Without them, there would be no Chapters Series. No exhibitions. No book. No me.

My dad passed away in 1994 after a short battle with cancer. We had no audio recordings of his voice only some video footage of him dancing at my brother’s wedding.

Birmingham2022Festival, my proposal was to create an exhibition featuring tactile images that could “talk” when interacted with. Did I know how I was going to do this? Of course not! But I knew I’d find a way and I did. That project became a game changer for me.

I knew my dad had to be part of the exhibition. His image was included as the main part of the assets and I had him drawn on a huge wall. And my mom, I had to make sure her voice would be heard every day of that exhibition. She became the unofficial guide, proudly talking to visitors and the other participants included in the work. She became a celebrity in her own right.

The following year, after several meetings, I was commissioned by the National Memorial Arboretum to create a selection of works and in late 2023, The Chapters of Our Lives and The Story Continues were on display there for two months across two exhibition spaces.

I was selected as one of five projects funded by tnlcommunityfund to have an illustration of mom included in work created by Lazerian studio and Jade Pearl at the TilburyDocks

In 2024, with support from TNLCF I was able to create a book to accompany the exhibitions. The work was exhibited again and I launched my first hardback book, featuring an illustration drawn beautifully by Asher Fai, of my mom, a “then and now,” on the front and back covers.

Asking about their journey from the Caribbean to the UK can be triggering. For many, it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

So I focused on the other side, the stories they wanted to tell and share as little or as much as they wanted.

My work is about storytelling. It may not always be obvious, but through creativity, sustainability, music, and conversation… these are their chapters.

The Story Continues

❤️🇯🇲