Continuing with focussing on participating artists in the latest National Exhibition, NE8, which is on show at the NAGB until April 16th, “Blank Canvas” host Amanda Coulson meets with three local practitioners whose work starts with a personal idea but reflects a greater global concern.
The first, Jordanna Kelly (far right)—is an artist born in Nassau and is the most recent winner of the Central Bank’s Open Category prize; she will open her solo show at the Central Bank Art Gallery on Friday, March 3rd. Jordanna joins us to speak about her ongoing project “Discarded Pearls,” in which the artist—having looked at the sand on the beach and realising what a precious object it was—attempted to collect sand from 17 inhabited islands from 10 locations on each island to create a portrait of the nation. In trying to execute the project. Jordanna realised how disconnected we are as a nation, which is why the project is still a work-in-progress as she tries to find participants in some of the more far-reaching Family Islands.
Sue Katz-Lightbourn (second from left) is a Bahamian by marriage whose work reflect on another kind of disconnection: that of The Other. Concerned by the current political climate in the US, Katz-Lightbourn has created a powerful sculpture made from collaged archival photographs, dealing with the Holocaust. As a woman of Jewish descent, she reflects on her personal story to talk about larger issues of fear and demonisation at play in the world today.
Dede Brown (second from right) speaks to her work “Just Another Version of You,” which is a portrait made of aluminium, whose twisted elements speaks to how we fall apart and put ourselves back together after any kind of difficult period or trauma; this idea can also be expanded to any nation of the world, as we see things shift and change after various global incidences.
The Blank Canvas airs on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. on Guardian Talk radio. Tune in!!
