Michael Robinson, Gleaner Writer

Sacred Love: Jupiter's Wrath (2008) - mixed-media collage by Paula Daley.

The tutors of the Edna Manley College (EMC) are showing decidedly fresh legs at this year's edition of the School of Visual Arts Faculty Show. The levels of innovation and the diversity of work are testament to the solid contribution these artists continue to make to the evolution of Jamaican art.

Curated by Veerle Poupeye, the exhibition manages to showcase the work of 24 tutors and technicians without feeling crammed. From the compelling Water Worries No. 3 that greets viewers with the barrel of a policeman's gun, to Paula Daley's Sacred Love: Jupiter's Wrath, the collection is intensely fascinating.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow depicts a column of figures supported by and supporting each other in a Herculean effort to reach the sky. It echoes the connectedness between the artists represented in the oeuvre and those who have gone before as well as generations to come. Art is one effort, it seems to whisper, as is life.

Margaret Stanley and Pat Kentish-Skeete offer perspectives on the art of textiles that redefine expectations. Stanley's work has a refreshing gestural quality that defies the painstaking methodical creation of the pieces. Her Twirling in the Pink is introspectively triumphant.

Kentish-Skeete has created an installation that exudes mystery and femininity even as it obliterates the boundaries of the genre. Outfit on mannequin and photograph of modeled outfit is a collaboration between herself and Marlon James, also one of the shows assistant curators. As the title states, the piece consists of a dress that looks like a tutu but feels like a wedding dress standing (on a mannequin) beside a photo of a ballerina in the dress. Upon viewing the dress beside itself being worn in another time, the mind projects an invisible component into this installation. The piece is undeniably transportive. It almost feels as though the ballerina's ghost is hovering in the space. You expect to smell her perfume. Kentish-Skeete and James have created a synergistic fusion of disciplines that makes a strong statement about 'boundaries' in art.

Obliteration of boundaries could be considered a theme of the exhibit as many of the artists have produced mixed media pieces. Some have delved into areas outside their 'comfort zone' with impressive results.

Last year's winner of Mutual Gallery's Under-40 Artist of the Year competition Kareina Chang-Fatt is a printmaking technician with two pieces on display. Memories Are Kept Here is a dress apparently suspended between sheets of sheer fabric. Its sister piece, an untitled etching, sits beside it as a two-dimensional treatment of the dress. The exquisite delicacy of line in the print is translated to her choice of fabric and use of appliqué in the fibre art piece.

Cleve Bowen copped the second prize in the under-40 competition. As the other assistant curator, Cleve admits the mounting of the exhibit was "a lot of work". His mixed-media assemblage, It is for Those that Have Paid the Price is a departure from his speciality - printmaking. The assemblage piece consists of a collection of found objects that evoke images of pain and cleansing rotating around a tree at the centre. Growth amidst, or as a result of trial. Life emerging from death.

Serious issues are addressed with an almost caricatural approach by Omari S. Ra, known to some as African, and K. Khalfani Ra. In Omari Ra's Line Drawing, Adam and Eve stand side by side, presumably facing their future. Between them, and connecting the pair, the proverbial serpent is being strangled by their fists. The potent image destroys traditional notions about humanity's early days just as the couple destroy that which, as the story goes, is the root of their trouble.

Digital manipulation as art

Khalfani Ra harks back to Warhol and pop art with Deuce! Destroyer of Worlds - The First Coming. The clichéd image of Jesus Christ has been digitally manipulated in this repeated series of images to depict Christ as a gun-toting cowboy. The message is clear. This idea of God has resulted in the perpetration of wrong, even violent, acts and precipitated the undoing of what was, for all intents and purposes, a perfectly good way of life for many indigenous societies.

The jewellery department weighs in with striking pieces from Carol Campbell and master jeweller, Garth Sanguinetti. Campbell's bold designs have a sculptural quality that complements the interesting combination of materials. Sanguinetti's Suite of Necklace, Bracelet and Earrings is scintillating.

No stranger to stretching the envelope, Petrona Morrison's installation, Us/Dem is an enigmatic mixed-media piece that uses photos and other imagery to tackle issues of race, gender and social identity. Adjacent to Morrison's piece is a series of digital pictures from Donnette Zacca, head of EMC's photography department. Rustic (From the Urban Notes Series) is Zacca's close-up look at the textures of paint and asphalt in various city settings.

The ceramic offerings are as diverse as the rest of the exhibit. David Dunn's Image Below is organic and subtle. Norma Rodney-Harrack's Vesture is minimalist geometry with a hand-made feel. Maxine Gray uses striations to add interest to Untitled (Platter). And Phillip Supersad has two pieces in the exhibit, including David's Star, a fresh take on the six-pointed shape that carries a world of meaning with it.

Other artists in the show are Miriam Hinds, Cecil Cooper, Raymond Watson, Chung Knight and Rachel Heather Wade.

EMC's Faculty Show is a body of work that represents today's teachers, yesterday's students and tomorrow's icons of Jamaican art. It is part of the ongoing exchange between generations of artists that is the cycle of creativity. If evolution is life then the EMC faculty is proof that our art is alive and kicking!

Untitled (necklace) (2007) - 14kt gold, sterling silver, garnet, diamond, tiger iron, rubber.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (2007-2008) - welded steel by Raymond Watson. - Photos by Michael Robinson