Women’s art to be showcased at National Library

Nov 03, 2010 News

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– Artists Association seeks to generate wider interest

Through the Guyana Women’s Artists Association the work of local women artists is poised to be promoted through an exhibition set to commence this weekend at the Ntional Library.
The Association was born 22 years ago, out of a need to support women artists, according to President of the Association, Jynell Osborne. She said that back in the day women artists were not properly represented, a state of affairs which has been greatly reversed with the introduction of the Association.
According to Osborne, the Association is geared at stimulating interest in art produced by women as there is always the risk of “you fading into the background.”
“We try a lot to stimulate our artists themselves with a lot of interactive sessions, workshops and exhibitions…We try to promote their work.”
She revealed that while there may be a few good artists there is hardly ever a forum for them to showcase their work. A series of workshops, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank recently concluded, with the intent to promote the creative art as produced by local women artists.
Osborne, an artist herself, revealed during an interview yesterday that although she indulges primarily in painting, her passion also lies in sculpting.  She usually experiments with a number of mixed media in her quest to determine the potential of any single medium.
However, she views painting as more convenient and accessible.
“With sculpting you need space, maybe some hot application; you need different things. So I am sticking with painting for the time.”
According to her, she started off with acrylics and has an ardent interest in the study of colours. As such she has over the years pushed the boundaries immensely as it relates to the use of various colours. Her passion today forces her to divert into encaustic, an Egyptian medium, which she studied about six years ago.
“There are similar problems as with sculpting…There is a high start-up cost and you need a work space so to speak, but now I am diverting a little bit at a time into encaustic,” she revealed.
She confessed that there is no doubt that her artistic talent was evident ever since she was a young girl, something her parents could attest to through the little creations they still have in their possession. However, Osborne recounts that she was science minded as a schoolgirl. Art captivated her and her ability was boosted through the Caribbean Examinations Council’s Visual Arts programme. She had additional grooming at the University of Guyana. Other workshops and symposiums were also instrumental along the way.
She remembers attending a workshop with one of the most reputable local women artists, Maylene Duncan, which was funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and which served as a stepping stone to her professional artistic endeavour.
Osborne was one of the few promising women artists who had attended that workshop and remains with the Association even today.
“We were invited to join the Association after that workshop…There were quite a few persons who had joined but they did not stay, they went on to do other things. You would expect that as a promising artist the world would rise to meet you, but it doesn’t necessarily work that way,” she asserted.
And it has been by faith that Osborne, a teacher at the Burrowes School of Art, has been able to sustain her burgeoning passion, since art is not a very feasible income-earner.
She revealed that “art comes to me out of a need to express myself, so for me to produce I have to have an interest in the material, the subject matter or whatever it is. It is not like I paint to sell because that is very difficult.”
Osborne said that there have been instances when persons would have requested a piece from her but would have to wait for a length of time before the finished product is fully realised.
“Most of the time I don’t have anything new because I have not been able to get into that zone to create.  I might have a lot of ideas going around but I cannot be a full-time artist; some persons do it but some persons can’t.”
She prefers to paint at will and would normally present her work when an occasion arises. And an occasion of such sort is set to commence on Saturday when the Association presents its exhibition. The exhibition will mark the 22nd such hosting. It will continue until November 16.
Secretary of the Association, Sharon Jordan, who is a relatively new member, said yesterday that the Association currently has about 30 active members. Since its establishment there have been about 100 registered artists.
The Association has been affected by migration, retirement and even deaths but yet continues to thrive, Jordan said. Her indulgence in art started and even remains a hobby as she is a full-time employee at the Caricom Secretariat. She revealed that it was only last year that she discovered the Association and was accepted by the supportive body.
In fact it was established that her work, which is mainly dried flora-oriented, is relatively unique. Some will be on display during the exhibition.
The artwork of some 15 women artists has been selected. These will include painting, jewellery, pottery, sculpture, ceramics and textiles. The potential displays, according to Jordan, were selected through a jury process whereby persons competent in the arts are tasked with selecting the items that are worth exhibiting.
“You want to put out materials that are of a high quality so that people can come and see things and want to buy…”

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