ARTZPUB MINUTE: S2 EPISODE 2 SHERLANN PETERS

This young lady is a self taught artist, whose commissioned work has appeared in the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Corporation's stamp issue, for the International Year Commemorating the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition.

She has designed and produced the statuette used by Gayelle TV for their Annual Independence Award Show, and has been Awarded by NYAC at their Top 20 Stars Of Tomorrow Awards for excellence and outstanding achievements in visual arts. She has produced work with Trinidad Art Society, The Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago and The National Carnival Commission to name a few.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Clay is the key to my core – my secret universe – where I articulate my world…. for the world through my eyes is made of clay.

My creations draw from social and cultural issues, the Caribbean folklore and ways of being that have been part of my childhood dreamscape.

Playing in dirt as a child started it. From the beginning the process of transforming soil into dolls, tea sets and teddy bears - struck me as magical. And, over the years, that magical process has overtaken me, leading me from hobby to art.

Clay sculpting fills me with a sense of accomplishment and integrity, and has proven a most articulate vehicle for translating my inner vision to outer reality. I sculpt from the inside out.

My inspirations come from the stories the old folks told or a chance conversation overheard that resonates with my being – so that my art often has a sense of nostalgia.

It’s important that the world of my grandparents and parents be available to my children who are being raised in a culture of gun violence, computer games and factory-made toys that make no demands on their imagination.

There is power in clay. Though often seen as a fragile material, in reality some of the oldest existing buildings on the planet are made from it, some dating back more than nine thousand years: the Great Wall of China, the Bam citadel in Iran, giant temple complexes in Peru, the Grand Mosque in Timbuktu, the world's oldest skyscrapers in Yemen and the beautiful Native American architecture of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Clay, dirt, the earth – when I hold it in my hand, I know that generations of African Slaves and indentured labourers stood in this soil and formed a way of being that was distinctly Caribbean. In this clay stood Toussaint, Dessalines, Cesaire, Fanon, CLR James...

This magical material inspires me to be magical too.

FOR MORE ON SHERLANN:

http://www.fineartcaribbean.com/index.php/v/original-art/sherlannpeters/?q=gallery