Early Work, Jamaica (1996–1999)
I established some of my most significant iconography during these early years. Utilising external metaphors to reveal my internal reality, my symbolic repertoire was imbued with recurring themes and references to nature and flora, skeletons, sea eggs and shells, the sky and the elements, brides, misfits, churches, graveyards, the ocean, imaginary boats, mongrel dogs and other fauna. A tightly focused style emerged as I strived to create the illusion of multi-dimensional realities even though the paintwork appeared to be almost flat and without texture. God’s Bride (1996), is the story of a Divine Marriage and a wedding party. It is a symbolic expression of love, loss, sadness, and growing self-love and self-awareness.
God’s Bride (1996), 96 x 48 inches, oil on linen
Rubberband Girl (1996), 7 x 6 inches oil on linen on hardboard
Tools of the Trade (1996), 50 x 25 inches, oil on canvas
For All One Cares (1996), 20 x 9 inches, oil on canvas
The Old Man’s Clothes (1996), 32 x 16 inches, oil on canvas
Faith in Life (1996), 20 x 10 inches, oil on canvas
Rude Girl (1996), 12 x 6 inches, oil on canvas on hardboard
Coocoomacca Pickney (1997), 14 x 8 inches, oil on linen
Mercy Street (1997), 40 x 10 inches, oil on linen
The Dealer (1997), 8 x 5 inches, oil on linen on hardboard
We’re Not Heavy (1997), 30 x 24 inches, oil on canvas
Sand Doll (1996), 10 x 8 inches, oil on linen
Lethal Yellowing (1997), 96 x 48 inches, oil on linen
Black Pearl (1997), 6 x 5 inches, oil on linen on hardboard
Black Pearls (1997), 8 x 5 inches, oil on linen on hardboard
Journeyman Rest (1998), 12 x 6 inches, oil on linen on hardboard
The Abyss (1998), 20 x 12 inches, oil on linen
Junkanu (1998), 24 x 9 ½ inches, oil on linen
Junkanu Journeyman (1998), 14 x 8 inches, oil on linen