With one small piece of up-cycled artwork at a time, I aim to slowly cleanse the earth with the hope that the incessant desire for humans to buy into a world of materialism will one day be eradicated. 

I aim to release our Mumma, reduce unnecessary waste and inspire others to create, construct, reuse, upcycle and manufacture, utilising wastage and the raw treasures and offerings Mumma Earth has gifted us.

I like to work paradoxically. I love high contrast, whether in my choice of oppositional or complimentary colours and textures or other ways. I Incorporate nature and metal, new, old and found objects, waste, trinkets, repurposed and upcycled goods. I love the way the varied mediums and resources complement one another. 

I aim to source sustainably and ethically. I reuse and reduce my carbon footprint as much as I can with every piece of art that I create. I constantly seek to learn more ethical and earth-friendly ways of doing things. 

The natural and found resources I use are mostly raw and uncut. I love all the natural lumps, bumps, discolouration, embellishments, and flaws nature creates. I find them mesmerising without the need to be perfected. They are all unique and imperfectly beautiful.

All synthetic, unsustainable, or non-biodegradable items I use in my artwork and packaging are found, donated, repurposed or upcycled. If synthetic materials are sourced new, they are largely recycled. The trinkets, upcycled fibres and materials I use may have originally been unethically sourced; I acquire these goods from donations or reworked trash. Therefore, there is no way of knowing where or how they originated; consequently, I like to give these resources another life.

All my artworks have an element of varying texture, intersectionality, paradox, contrast, opposition, intentional imperfection, rawness, reducing, recycling, repurposing, and reusing. 

I have an unfathomable intrinsic love for the earth and an amour for nature and all beings small and big whether it be animals, insects, plants, elements, minerals and human beings, which is often depicted in my artwork. My work captures the universal current that flows through us, around and within us, entwining us all. I am captivated by the circle of life, cultural diversity, human strength, agility, magnanimity, and our soul's ability to connect with one another and the universe.

My artwork emerges from my imaginative visions, dreams, self-growth, worldly expeditions, and the everyday magic that exists (but is not always seen). I inherently believe the most magical and magnificent treasures in the universe cannot be seen, imagined, or even touched – they can only be felt. 

When it comes to art, I do not believe it can be graded or compared. I do not believe there is a "wrong" or "right" way. There are no "good" or "bad" works of art. Art just is. It exists as it is. What I love most about art is how it gives us a glimpse into the artist's inner world; it allows us to see how they see, understand, and feel.

It shows us what moves and pains them and allows us to learn from them. It opens us up to new ways of being and enables us to be in community with them in their offerings. I believe artists are feelers and believers who are capable of shaping great change. Look through my eyes as you browse through my artwork, and you'll see how and what I see, feel and experience when I look at (and exist) in the world.

As a brown-skinned mixed raced child, I was curious about my Jamaican roots. I often had difficulty straddling my difference in our uncompromising world alongside the few distinct diverse minority cultural identities that were (and continue to be) placed on me. My introspection and continued struggle for self-identity and self-actualisation in our western and vastly Caucasian society have become increasingly relatable challenges with age. 

Art, self-expression, and nature have become necessary platforms for me to seek self-acceptance, understanding and expression. Art is a pathway to healing. It opens me up and allows me to peel off the multilayers of my experience, which has stemmed from a life of paradoxes, marked by trauma, intersectionality, intergenerational wounding and oppression.

"Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality."
(Shunryu Suzuki, 1904-1971)

Some artists are perfectionists and take great measures to ensure their work reflects their impossibly high standards. Meanwhile, I like to embrace my intentional rawness and imperfections. I am a big-feeling human being, which drives my intentional imperfections. Art is a free space with no rules, and I like to let loose and break all the paradigms down. 

Many cultures have inspired my imperfect creations. For me -- introducing deliberate flaws in my work is not only something I must compulsively do, but it reminds me of how incredibly small and insignificant we all are in the scheme of everything. It reminds me of an integral part of life: to live untethered and with integrity. To live real, authentically, raw, messy, untameable and human. It reminds me to honour and love our earth, universe, and all life within it, without taking it for granted or harming it beyond measurable degrees of salvation.

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In Japan, combining deliberate imperfections is a necessary ingredient of art. This art form is known as "Wabi-sabi" and has been repeated since at least the 16th century. The wabi-sabi includes asymmetry, roughness, simplicity, and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and practices. Wabi-sabi is seen in a variety of pottery styles, such as Hagi ware, originating from the town of Hagi in Yamaguchi. Hagi ceramics have shapes that are not symmetrical, and colours or textures that appear to emphasise a simple style, and tea bowls are often chipped or knicked at the bottom.

The wabi-sabi concept can be seen in Buddhist monks' robes; this is known as "kesa" these robes are draped diagonally across the body and feature a small patchwork design as a reminder of the humble patched garment worn by Buddha.

In Navajo culture, rug weavers intentionally incorporate small imperfections along the borders in the shape of a line called “ch'ihónít'I”, which translates to "spirit line" or "spirit pathway. The Navajos believe that when weaving a rug, the weaver entwines part of their being into the cloth, and the spirit line allows the trapped part of the weaver's spirit to exit the rug safely.

The Navajos also add an intentional imperfection, such as a loose piece of yarn or a different coloured bead, into anything and everything they create to refrain from defying God, honour God's perfection and show tribute to their imperfect humaneness. 

This belief that God is perfect and humans are not is a large philosophy behind Islamic architecture. The beautifully decorated vaulted ceilings of many mosques in the Arab sphere appear symmetric but often have minor irregularities invisible to most visitors. The National Cathedral in Washington, DC, has several small architectural flaws attributed to an apocryphal medieval tradition that sought to illustrate that only God can be perfect. 

In the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, intricate patterns using brightly coloured threads are woven into shawls, head scarves, and other garments by women for their use or their families; this is an embroidery technique known as Phulkari, meaning flower work. During a textile's creation, they sometimes introduce slight colour or pattern changes into their work. Some are added to protect the shawl's wearer from the evil eye. Others are stitched to mark important events like life's emergence or passing.

Aside from paying homage to God, these concepts reinforce the idea that there is beauty in imperfections, and beauty itself is impermanent and incomplete.

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While I am spiritual, I personally do not follow any religion, faith or God. I greatly respect indigenous cultures and their knowledge of the land, mother earth, humanity and spirit; we have much to learn from them. God aside, nature, the earth, imperfections and their unquestionable beauty are ideals and philosophies I live by, which have given me great comfort and healing from the harm of the western world, capitalism, and its patriarchal systems. 

References: (Regents of the University of Michigan, 2016-2017).

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