- Contributed
'Big Tree' - acrylic on canvas
Sana Rose, Contributor
THE UNIVERSITY of Technology's thrust to unite and harmonise technology with the arts has led to a partnership of sorts with the Jamaica Guild of Artists. Each month, the Technology Innovation Centre will host a small exhibition of work from a member of the Guild. This month it is hosting the work of painter Angela Erskine. Ten pieces are on view, most of which show a deep conceptual framework alongside two landscapes.
The exhibition is staged in the centre's lobby, which, although it lacks a large amount of wall space, can be utilised to host a small collection of work. The area is spacious enough to allow viewers to step back and observe works and constant human traffic allows for encounters with the pieces but apart from these qualities of the space, it is the reflecting glass of the framed works and the fact that most pieces are hung above eye level that makes viewing, somewhat tedious.
ERSKINE'S INTRODUCTION
Erskine is a 1996 graduate of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts where she specialised in painting. Her introduction to the exhibition scene began with collage, which she still maintains, combined with paint. Remarkably, she is one of the few artists who has been able to sustain her art practice while earning a living in a completely unrelated field.
Now a full-time artist, she continues her pre-occupation with social issues, referring to her thematic interest as "a journey that follows the theme of freedom, contending with the negatives of society and seeing hope for positive change."
TEXTURE
The artist tends naturally, it would seem, towards abstraction or semi-abstraction as in the case of her Contemplation series.
The current display's inclusion of two landscapes is an odd grouping especially when we consider her limited skills in painting of this genre. Formal issues of light, form, colour and space are very weak in these works but, interestingly, are far more resolved in the more conceptual works.
The smallest pieces in the show including the Contemplation series demonstrate a greater understanding of composition, space and surface.
Erskine doesn't seem overly content or even comfortable with using only paint. Her penchant for texture has led to collage combinations of gauze, corrugated cardboard etc. in her abstract and semi-abstract works. These materials are juxtaposed with a sombre palette of dark reds, blues and yellows as well as black and, occasionally, white paint on paper and canvas.
The smaller elongated formats of the paper works are more ambiguous in image while the almost square pieces allude to the human form within the compositions. While the artist maintains a theme of freedom, there is an overriding dark mood to the pieces due to the colour scheme within the compositions.
Erskine tries to bring together two kinds of images and conceptual interests in this exhibition but it is clear where her strength lies. This leads us to ponder the questionable inclusion of the weaker works.
She indicates that she is moving slowly towards the use of paint more substantially over her use of collage and great effort at improving her handling of the acrylic medium coupled with space should improve her compositions.
However, we find that we are more attracted to the mixed media pieces with collage elements that offer variation of pattern and texture across the surfaces.
The show continues.
