Body and soul…

In a recent article about working from the live model, I mention how, in the late 1980’s, a series of drawings and sculpture of an unassuming young lady from St Vincent, helped to redefine the concept of beauty for the Afro-Caribbean woman. 

I titled the series, A Portrait of Alice and through my drawing and sculpture I sought go beyond superficial looks in an attempt to reveal both body and soul.  As always, my subjects are not professional models, but real people.  As a girl, Alice carried bananas bare-foot down the steep hillsides of St Vincent.  Her response when I suggested modelling for the series was “Who me, you joking!”  

Here she is, not your stereotype Carnival Queen, but in my eyes, the West Indian equivalent of a Grecian Goddess.