Old Women (2011)

In 2011, I frequently visited an old women’s home. I was drawn in part by my ageing Grandmother in Jamaica, whom I missed, and by these women’s personal stories. The home was not a bad one, the caregivers seemed helpful, but the food looked awful. Some of the women were lonely. Ageing made them vulnerable, death was constantly before their eyes. Moved and humbled, I was allowed to paint them. After a time I could not help but notice that virtually no one in the broader community was interested in these paintings. By comparison, my Francis Road Rummies series, comprised solely of old alcoholic men, was hugely popular. This suggested to me the unconscious bias towards men in our societies, and that women were perceived as being of lesser value.