Photo by Michael Robinson
A section of 'The Cradle of Life' by Khepera Oluyia Hatsheptwa. The installation is part of the Under-40 Artist of the Year exhibition now on at the Mutual Life Gallery.

Michael Robinson, Sunday Gleaner Writer

MUTUAL GALLERY has shortlisted four artists in this year's Under-40 Artist of the Year competition. Paula Daley, Raymond Graham, Khepera Oluyia Hatsheptwa and Miriam Hinds are the quartet featured in the 2008 edition of the exhibition, which runs for another three weeks.

Hatsheptwa's 'The Cradle of Life' sits calmly totemic in the gallery space. The artist uses crib rails to represent the protective nature of various social constructs which, later on in life, can prove to be constraints. The arrangement of the wall elements in 'The Cradle of Life' carries vague echoes of those infamous images of slaves laid out like cargo on vessel floors during the slave trade. Crib rails, meant to keep babies safe, start to resemble prison bars in this pointed look at mental slavery.

Installation components

The installation consists of wood in various forms. On the floor in front of the rails, a tree stump sits on a blanket of wood chips. Wood in the form of paper is also a part of the piece. Hatsheptwa's drawings and collages add visual and conceptual depth to the installation. The result is an elemental piece of work that evokes conflicting emotions. Comfort, triggered by the sight of crib rails, as well as the 'nature feel' of the stump and the wood chips, contrasts with the feelings of restriction generated by the rails as used to cover images and words on paper.

Across the room, Miriam Hinds' display is a collection of works mounted as a unified installation. 'Excerpts in Longing' is a combination of mixed-media two-dimen-sional and three-dimensional pieces, including sheets of printed silk hanging at the centre ('Maybe', 'Spirited' and 'Then Again').

Hinds also includes poetry as part of the piece, which seems to be about the internal space that we occupy during moments of longing. The nautilus shell is a recurring element throughout the body of work, simultaneously indicating a place of safety and the fragility of the very notion of safety. Hinds, according to her artist statement, "seeks to share with viewers the serenity and the ambivalence that come with longing." Longing, she says, "can become a preoccupation that robs you of living life to the fullest".

'Pages from the Book of Days' is a journey by Paula Daley through "past, present and future". Her vision seems to progress through the evolution of woman as emotional, relational and sexual being. The installation features scores of digital prints mounted on four walls. Standing at the centre of Daley's iconic images of clocks, butterflies and human figures is a book atop a stand. 'The Book of Days' is connected to the pages on the walls by many thin strands of 'fate'.

Taste of omniscience

Daley's piece reads like a series of secret messages from some cosmic journal. Viewers are let into a place where time and space are expansively laid out in two dimensions - like a taste of omniscience.

Bugs and the feelings they evoke are central to Raymond Graham's concept. 'The Manifestation of Taunting' is an ordinary bedroom crawling with wire sculptures that look like insects from a science- fiction film. The room's centrepiece is 'Mirror Menace on the Wall', a large wire fly mounted like a mirror above the bed. A large object, seemingly inspired by a wasp nest, occupies a corner near the room's 'ceiling'.

Graham's piece drew viewers like ... well, flies. His novel concept and choice of material make for interesting viewing. The blending of the mundane and the surreal result in a jarring effect, which, according to his statement, is exactly what he wants.

The competition is a juried one with a public voting prize in addition to the one awarded by the judges. Anyone who goes to see the show can submit their vote and the winners will be announced on September 2.

Started with the stated aim of "encouraging new forms of expression among young contemporary visual artists", the Under-40 Artist of the year has been doing just that for six years now. This year's shortlisted artists are a good indication that Jamaica's young artists are not only alive and kicking, but they are experimenting, and they have a lot to say.