Features
Janelle De Souza
Samantha Joseph is not one of those artists whose work encourages viewers to get in touch with their feelings or think too deeply about the meaning of her pieces.
Instead, her work is there to entertain and enjoy “…a distraction rather than therapy.”
“My work is fun. It’s interesting. He touches on the topics in a very conversational and not too serious way. I’m not someone who gets stuck. So during the pandemic, while it was a terrible time, I decided to start an online tactical and fitness equipment business because I knew the people still working were service personnel. I’m just rolling with it. I don’t stay in that negative space. I kind of float.”
Joseph, 29, said that while she appreciates the fine art available in Trinidad and Tobago, she is not the serious type to contemplate the universe. Therefore, she describes the work in her upcoming exhibition at Arnim’s Art Galleria as “a breath.”
She has done many group shows in TT and the UK over the years, but War and Peace is her first solo exhibition. It mainly consists of oil paintings with mixed media including newspaper, gold leaf and acrylic paint.
She said that many people want their first solo exhibition to be a very serious affair, and that’s what she was aiming for. Around the time Germany started making noise about invading Ukraine, it painted a grenade and titled it War. She created it in a “tense space” and intended to continue along these lines.
“It was my headspace at the time. Things got kind of scary between the pandemic and the war. Brain explodes! I read a lot of Robert Greene and wanted something along military lines. I needed something that contained and exploded. In the process of this I thought, ‘grenades'”.
She went on to breed several dogs as members of various protective service groups, but then she went off the rails into something she was happier doing.
Joseph believes that many artists try to please other people with their work instead of being true to themselves. She said it’s easy to produce “beautiful” work, but the process of creation is more important to her.
“Art is supposed to be your expression, the way you articulate yourself, but, coming (into the art world), we often fall into the trap of pleasing our superiors or predecessors, what suits the market or what everyone else others are doing to fit in. a group.
“I just don’t really care about that. I feel most comfortable creating work that I would love, work that inspires me, work that excites me, and work that I can relate to. So I do my job and I really enjoy the process.”
She describes War and Peace as a study of the TT subculture using anthropomorphic art – animals with human characteristics or in human scenarios.
For example, there are dogs playing pool, chickens playing poker, a lion king in a casino setting, and frogs taking selfies. There are also paintings of models with Buddha tattoos as well as alcohol, because she was inspired when she visited the Angostura museum and thought about TT’s culture of drinking and lime.
Joseph told Newsday Sunday that one of her biggest inspirations is Dogs Playing Poker, a collection of 18 paintings by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge.
“It basically inspired a lot of my work, as well as Lewis Carroll (author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), (English author) Terry Pratchett, (American painter) Norman Rockwell and (Spanish surrealist painter) Salvador Dalí. I’ve been reading a lot of books and doing a lot of illustration work to come out, so I’ve been pulling it.
“And I found that Trinidadian culture is really fun, so it lends itself well to this style of painting. I just worked the style into the collection. I had a lot of fun with it.”
Originally from Siparia, Joseph moved to Surrey, England with her mother at the age of eight. She returned to TT in 2019 as she wanted to spend time with her father and help with his NGO.
She recalled that she returned shortly before the pandemic, so she spent most of her time indoors, which hindered her creativity. And, although she draws in her sketchbook every day, she only started producing paintings about a year ago.
Since then she has made numerous pieces that adorn the walls of branches of The Mini Bar and last August she decided to do an exhibition. She began exploring TT to find a subject and, between the Russia/Ukraine war and her business, she painted what was known and produced by the War.
She said her family is very artistic with several members working in creative fields, including a cousin who is a tattoo artist and another who sculpts. Also, her parents have always encouraged and supported her. Her mother, a chef, encouraged her to create, while her father, a transportation specialist, encouraged her to get more education.
“I remember when I was really young at school I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew right away that I wanted to be an artist. And I stayed on that path and got into books.”
And so she read classic literature, collected comic books, worked in various libraries from the age of 18 to 26, took commissions for illustrations and murals for private individuals, and took art courses in various fields to build more knowledge.
She added that she is “pro-failure” because it allows her to challenge herself and grow.
“The more you fail, the more you learn, and the more you learn, the faster you improve. Many people master something and feel comfortable and stay at that point. I don’t feel comfortable with that.
“Once I’m good at something, I want to learn how to be better at something else. This has really helped me push the boundaries of my techniques, my applications, the way I see things and the way I approach things.”
Joseph’s paint application technique is classic. For example, with her oils, she uses an underpainting and then builds up layers with glazes. However, sometimes its underpainting is a bright color, so the color can appear in different areas of the canvas.
Also, with her paint application, she does not hesitate with brush strokes and uses the minimum amount of strokes to complete a piece.
“I’d rather spend some time working out how to apply the paint than apply the paint twice. This is why, with some of my work, you will see visible brush marks, a visible line or color. I do this on purpose.”
While she prefers a warm palette, she is not afraid to use any color and often plays with light and dark, and shades of color. She doesn’t really like the mixing of colors on the canvas or the smooth finishes because “nothing in life is that smooth.” So she enjoys seeing the brush marks, texture, and proof that the artist is confident in what they are applying to the canvas.
A collection of over 40 distracting pieces can be seen in the War and Peace exhibition at Arnim’s Art Galleria, La Romain from 18 July to 6 August.
