ceramist

Donald Locke who was born and educated in Guyana, developed his talents as a sculptor and ceramist in the UK having gained a British Council Scholarship to Bath Academy of Art and a Guyana Government Award to Edinburgh University. In 1979, a Guggenheim fellowship in Sculpture allowed him a year as an Artist in Residence at Arizona State University after which he gained permanent status remaining in Phoenix for another decade. In 1990, he moved to Atlanta where he continued to live and work while enjoying international acclaim from exhibitions in USA and Europe. His works such as Trophies of Empire 1, 1972-1974, (detail depicted here), comprise robust disconnected forms that eerily echo the cultures and geographies he had experienced. Heavy metal vessels, solid wood forms and found objects are placed together creating awkward human effigies or challenging abstract assemblages. Their loaded erotic and sometimes violent symbolism bring to mind mournful memories from the past and issues related to slavery, identity and sovereignty. His, are sombre images of the Black Atlantic world that Locke straddled so boldly.

Michael Layne grew up in Port Antonio where he was strongly affected by that parish’s lush plant life,  its sea coast studded with rough coves,  its turquoise surf  and  its generous rains. He often expressed a fascination with the qualities of earth and mud which abounded in the rainy season.

Layne chose to specialise in ceramics at the Edna Manley School for Visual Art. While he learned the traditional Jamaican and international styles his restlessness with convention  led him to experiment. 

Much of Michael’s work consists of large bottles or bowls assembled with clay slabs and decorated with oxides of slips, and single fired. An architectural pattern from the slab’s assembly often gives the impression of fragmentation despite a general unity of form. Some have seen this as Michael’s philosophy of  post-modern society. The artist himself is more reticent, and simply talks about the satisfaction of new clay creations, the use of familiar forms,  the raw texture, and a power of communication which his pieces evoke in himself and those who view it.Recently his work has taken a new direction. Returning to his home town of Port Antonio, he has found inspiration  in  its architecture.  He creates clay images that reflect  these disappearing  vintage homes. His images are met with delight by those who remember their national heritage and ‘country origins’.  PA-S 2000 

Gene Pearson’s influence on the making of ceramics in Jamaica is staggering. His stylised ceramic heads have become his trademark and their haunting profiles have influenced many potters and painters locally and abroad. Trained at the Jamaica School of Art his work shows the stylistic influence of peers such as Christopher Gonzales and conceptual links to pioneers such as Osmond Watson.

Very early in his career, Gene Pearson began working with forms that  were a stylistic blend of  African Baule masks, Egyptian sculpture  and his own Jamaican sensibility with all its references to ‘roots’ culture and Rastafari. The result was a form of sculpture/ceramic object that referenced classical forms of proportion, portrayed the African physiognomy with refined dignity and evoked a sense mythical African ancestry. The eclectic and synthesised nature of his work seemed perfectly suited to the needs of his Jamaican viewers who saw in his ceramic forms a reflection of their multi cultural heritage. Now Gene Pearson’s work is just as popular abroad and he divides his time between working at his home in Red Hills and exhibiting in California.

His works have been presented to various foriegn dignataries, heads of states and celebrities including Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, Phan Van Dong of Vietnam. They can also be seen on film sets such as “Trapper MD”,  and in the private collections of Stevie Wonder, Diahann Carrol and Madge Sinclair.PA-S