arts & culture 41
WEEK ENDING June 7, 2015 | guyanatimeSinternational.com
Upcoming art exhibition to encourage innovation among Guyanese art
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t was during a discussion about art and culture in Guyana at the beautiful Pandama Retreat & Winery that a group of artists decided to join forces and work together to add a new project to the Guyanese art scene. Nicholas Young (potter), Tracy Douglas (textile/fibre artist and painter) and Sigrid Sandker (potter and painter) share one vision – to improve the understanding and appreciation of art in society as well as to motivate (young) artists to look beyond borders and create art that is fresh and innovative. They are ''kindred spirits'' and will show their work from June 25 onwards at Moray House Trust located at Camp and Quamina Streets, Georgetown. The exhibition ''Kindred Spirits – Inspired by Nature'' will be patronized by the Ambassador of the European Union, Robert Kopecky, who personally knows and supports the artists. Beginning today, Guyana Times Sunday Magazine will be featur-
work. “Adequate remuneration certainly is one of the criteria for a young art school graduate to decide for an artistic career,” Young points out. Additionally, the art-
Guyanese artist, Nicholas Young
ing one of the exhibiting artists each week.
Reinventing the past through his pottery
Nicholas Young was born in Georgetown, Guyana, and from early on discovered his creative talents, which included sculpturing and leather craft. When in his early twenties, Young was encouraged by a group of female potters called “LAMA Craft” to join them. This was the most significant part of discovering his artistic enthusiasm, because it was with this group he developed his pottery skills. The past is reinvented with Young’s collection of clay crafts, which he markets under the brand Rainforest Pottery. The artist uses contemporary versions of Amerindian motifs as decorative elements and develops his own clay bodies from Guyanese kaolin and natural red clay. The result is art that is deeply rooted in Guyanese nature and culture, and tells stories not Vase with Amerindian hieroglyph only of its rich past
Young's use of artwork on his pieces, like this one, makes him one of Guyana's noteworthy artistic potters
but enduring present. With a rich history and tradition of craftsmanship behind him, through his work, he preserves the legacy of ancient civilizations. One of the artist’s aims is to push local craft, and he is always thinking of new ways to promote it. For two years he served as president of the Guyana Arts & Craft Producers Association. “I see a bottleneck when it comes to facilitating the step from graduating from art school to becoming an artist in Guyana,” Young states. He calls on the education ministry, now responsible for what was, at the time, the culture ministry, to take steps to foster society’s understanding of the sometimes long and complicated process of creating art and craft, which must be rewarded by a fair price for the art-
ist stresses that something also has to be done to increase the visibility of contemporary artists in Guyana. Young, who won a number of awards, has exhibited with groups
and solo throughout the Caribbean, in the U.S.A, Canada, England and other parts of Europe. He won first prize in ceramics in the 2014 Visual Arts Competition in Guyana.