Caribbean Artists A-Z

Born in Kingston to a well-to-do family, Moody left Jamaica at aged 23, initially to pursue a career in dentistry. This was not necessarily his first choice, he was already widely read in Chinese and Indian metaphysics and showed an aptitude for the arts. While still a student he visited the British Museum and was so affected by the Egyptian and Asian collections there that he taught himself to carve. By the time he had completed his dental studies in 1930, he had also become a proficient…

Cleveland Morgan’s maturation as a painter mirrors the same process of maturation in Jamaica’s cultural institutions, since a great deal of his artistic achievements are due to their foundation. Introduced to art through his local secondary school teacher, he was encouraged to study formally and was one of the first students to benefit from formal art classes at the Jamaica School of Art and Crafts after its establishment in the 1950’s. Like a handful of young people from that era, he also…

As Lorraine Morgan’s work becomes more personal, it becomes smaller in scale. As she comes closer to an understanding of herself and her world, she becomes more focussed and detailed in her work and its presentation. Her technique in recent years has been distinctive using holes and spheres punched from paper or scraps of paper shredded, cut and pieced back together. Thus, she builds her surfaces so that they read topographically as textured, and psychologically as emotionally intense.…

From an early age Morrison sketched incessantly, covering family books with figure drawings. By the time she reached her teens she was certain that she wanted to be an artist. Art satisfied an obsession that she had not yet clearly defined but had welcomed wholly.School teachers advised that she seek higher education. At McMaster University in Canada, and later, at Howard University in Washington D.C., she specialized in painting, but later developed an interest in sculpture.

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Eugene Palmer is a man caught between two cultures and his paintings reflect this dichotomy. Despite the fact that he paints with all the deftness and technical skills of a thoroughly trained artist, the content of his paintings belie the Western tradition. He is repainting history, mimicking the Old Masters and usurping their models in order to claim or reclaim the presence of the black within a 'grand tradition' of narrative painting and portraiture.

His most recent paintings…

Something of a prodigy, Karl Parboosingh’s paintings reveal his rare and gifted talents as a painter. Examination of his background however shows that whatever artistic skills he may have been born with, they were enhanced during his lifetime by  solid training and exposure to art. During his younger years he had the rare opportunity (at least, for Jamaican painters) to work alongside some of the masters of the international modern art movement in such cities as…

Seya’s simple style reflects a search for truth and purity. This has led her away from subjects in the material world towards a form of abstract painting inspired by thought rather than image. Her interest in painting came from her love of poetry and and her relationship with Jamaican husband Parboosingh. Her quiet temperament and spiritual fortitude must have been the perfect compliment to Karl Parboosingh’s largesse, but coming from a protected merchant class family environment in…

Winston Patrick considers himself fortunate to have studied at the Jamaica School of Art during the time of Barrington Watson and Colin Garland. Both artists had an impact on his career; in particular, the memory of Colin Garland’s keen observation and attention to detail would always stay with him, while he would be grateful to Barrington Watson for his support and the opportunity Watson provided  for  him  to travel, to see works of great artists and to expand his insights…