From the moment she appeared on set for her photo shoot, we knew that our interview with the very talented, young Barbadian artist, Sheena Rose, would be completely different to any other we had conducted before. Best described as an effervescing ball of energy, Sheena is at once animated, personable and hilarious but very much so humble and distinctly aware of the long journey she has endured to get to this emotional place in her life. “As a child, I had low self-esteem, I didn’t expect to get back any CXCs, I had no expectations” Sheena explained about her early struggles with her identity and self-worth, a battle further fueled by persons around her that should have encouraged her, including one secondary school teacher who quipped “See you next year” in respect of her achieving any success in her school leaving examinations. Schoolmates weren’t any less cruel, calling her “slow”, “retarded”, “dumb” and mocking a lisp that has now since vanished. Cue the sad violin theme? Not so fast. Sheena Rose is not defeatist and speaks of her struggle with poor self-esteem with a refreshing honesty that makes her infinitely more endearing. With the encouragement of her best friend, Joanna Greene, Sheena pushed through and achieved success in her examinations, earning the grades necessary to enter the Barbados Community College, where her journey with art would begin in earnest. “I would have been content working anywhere” she recalls, a sentiment that underscored her initial reluctance of pursuing an Associate Degree program at the institution. She had quietly resigned to lead an average, unremarkable life. Embracing her artistic talents undoubtedly helped to develop her not only professionally, but personally. From comic books drawn at school, depicting the drama of everyday home situations to one of her first truly controversial art pieces, Sheena channeled her individuality masterfully through her work. The latter piece found Rose nude and adorned with a penis, instead of the usual female appendage…it apparently was so controversial, some viewers suggested she seek Jesus – this kind of reaction was welcomed and would stimulate her creative nature even more. Some of her most notable work includes the series, “Downtown”, where Rose would paint intricate
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pieces depicting the downtown areas of some of the world’s major cities, inclusive of Bridgetown, Cape Town and New York City. Facilitated by proceeds made from nude modeling (that topic in itself deserves a dedicated interview), Sheena was able to travel to these cities to execute the pieces, but the genesis of the series was a far lonelier motivation. Having been a loner throughout school life, Sheena would often long to partake in the usual Bajan