fragments carnival abstractions

Here are a few fragments depicting various carnival characters

GENERAL ADMISSION

Here is a sneak peak of  "General Admission" recent works 2011 that will be exhibited at the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago June 27th - July 2nd.

 General Admission looks at this latest trend of dividing a space using rather imposing scaffolding creating sections within an area purely based on economics and naming these sections VIP and even VVIP relegating the General Admission section to the very back of the space so you become the outcast. This very disturbing trend has become the norm and it seems the past and where we have come from is repeating itself.

In this body of work I look at "General Admission" who does this apply to? Are we not all general admission, did carnival, jouvert, steel pan, doubles, sno cone etc not come out of the "General Admission" in our society?

I created this body of work based on these questions/observations and chose to highlight and even celebrate the general admission of us as a people.

GLIMPSES

New works feature glimpses captured of people caught in moments of solitude, lost in thought or going about their everyday lives. Pieces are done in oil as well as watercolour with hand made papers

this new body of work has me revisiting parts of our indian cultural heritage in Trinidad. These themes are familiar to me as I had included similar paintings in my Soul of a People series in 2004. Yet since my series based on India Sanskriti 2005 I have not explored any of these themes making this work long overdue. The following are a few pieces from this work which will be on show at In2Art Gallery, St. Anns from November 5th 2008.

urban paradise opened on Tuesday 29th April at Horizons Art Gallery and continues till May 10th. here are a few more pictures of some of the works available.

urban paradise 2008

I have a great interest in cultural anthropology, which has had a profound influence on my work. My motivation lays in creating work that appeals to the viewer in an emotional almost spiritual way. The paintings portray elements of humanity that are both celebrated and taken for granted or that are perceived as ugly, unacceptable or regressive but nonetheless coexisting within the fabric of everyday life.

Urban Paradise is a continuation of this work this time exploring the ideas of Urbanization as “perceived progress” and the notion of Trinidad being a Paradise. The works depict people in the everyday hustle and struggle to survive in scenes loosely representing Port of Spain but showing the loneliness of this urban lifestyle, as the faces remain undefined almost invisible at times. Reference is made to the crime situation, the widening gap between those who have and those existing on the fringes of society and the strong intimidating Police and Army presence in everyday life asking the viewer if this is progress. Yet, I have also included celebratory pieces highlighting our culture that remains strong despite being largely unsupported.

Bio

Tessa Alexander is primarily a painter and has participated in several joint and solo exhibitions locally and has attended several artists workshops internationally. She is an art educator and conducts several workshops/classes for children.

Tessa currently lives and works in Trinidad and maintains a studio out of her home in Diego Martin. She can be contacted at 868 745 6816 or ntaalex@yahoo.com