Andrea Downer, Gleaner Writer

Lion Legend and Legacy. - Contributed

Spanish Town, the home of warring gangs, political factions and a violence-riddled past, nurtured him. He survived the bullets, but his art has haunting images of lives lost and the emptiness of broken dreams.

Raymond Graham is 26 years old. He aspires to teach art at the tertiary level and gain recognition locally and internationally for his work. But, in the meantime, he teaches high school students the fine art of creating images from their thoughts, feelings and snippets of their dreams, while he works on exorcising the ghosts of his past through the frenzied therapy of painting.

"The production of a painting is a very intense process for me. I first take images from my imagination; that are influenced by event or experiences. Then I take apart the literalness in meaning and possible interpretation of the suggested images by using a wide rang of painting techniques which allow me to make both controlled and expressive marks" Raymond explained in a recent interview.

Well, the images in his head are intense! Angry red blotches of colour dominate some paintings, red splashes that conjure up scenes of lives lost, bloodshed and total chaos; a reality which he said he lived for several years and which, in his hometown, can recur at anytime without warning.

Violence and murder daily

"Growing up in Spanish Town, sometimes I encountered violence and murder daily. There were even times during upsurge of violence when I couldn't even get to go home at nights," he revealed.

"I might not have witnessed some of the violence first hand, but just seeing the events on the news and knowing that they occurred in places that I knew and was familiar with had a lasting impact on me," he continued.

Raymond is a classic example of a positive outcome from negative circumstances. He has won several local awards for his work and, last week, he was recognised by the Kiwanis Club of Kingston for his achievements in the arts, when he was awarded runner-up in the Arts category in the Club's Youth in Excellence award. This is a recognition, which he says takes him one step further towards achieving his goal of becoming an accomplished artist.

In 2003, he graduated from The Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts with a certificate in painting. The following year, he enrolled in the art education programme at the college where he recently completed the last requirement for the Diploma in Art Education.

He has won several awards in several major group exhibitions and competitions at various venues including the Mutual Gallery and the National Gallery. His awards include one gold and two silver medals and Most Outstanding Amateur entrant award at the JCDC 2006 Fine Arts Festival.

Placed second

Raymond Graham also placed second in the Tribute to Bob Marley Competition and Exhibition at the National Gallery. In 2005, he won two silver and one bronze medals in the JCDC Fine Arts Festival. He placed first in the St. Catherine Home Coming Arts competition and was awarded certificates of merits in 2004 and 2003 respectively in the JCDC Fine Arts Festival.

Even the vivid yellows and vibrant greens, which symbolise hope and life in Raymond's paintings, are splashed in

blood and frozen in rigor mortis. But, his style is engaging and sophisticated and his work bears the trademark of talent.

"I try to create a visual puzzle with my images, thus making the painting more interactive to the viewers. I always strive for a balance between high aesthetic appeal and conceptual depth," he explained.