POURING FROM A VESSEL OF KNOWLEDGE: Cromwell Place

Pouring from a Vessel of Knowledge is a group exhibition presenting the work of four British female artists of Jamaican Heritage: Sonia Elizabeth Barrett, Merissa Hylton, Marcia Patterson, and Katasha Rose.

Marking the 75th Anniversary of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush ship, the exhibition explores how the artists use ancestral wisdom to reconcile with the ghosts of Empire through remembrance, reclaiming and reframing.

Showcasing work of a variety of mediums, from painted canvases to handmade ceramic pots and a sculptural installation of 'Dreaded Maps' by award-winning artist Sonia Elizabeth Barrett, Pouring from a Vessel of Knowledge demonstrates how the artists tackle the complex legacies of post-colonial migration whilst illuminating the radiance of this era of self-actualisation.

Offering insight into their interior worlds, in which His-story and reality sometimes tussle for a seat on the throne of knowledge, the artists demonstrate how the wisdom of the Motherland remains their guiding light. Through deep contemplation of how the scars of enslavement are carried into the present through the residue of time, they find meaning in their current reality rooted in the past. The past provides them with a route to a more fulfilled life anchored on years of sacred knowledge carried across seas, from The Motherland to the Islands, before arriving in the British Isles, which they call home. 

At the centre of Pouring from a Vessel of Knowledge is a desire from each artist to be a voice of truth and to bring forth into the consciousness of the public the wisdom of the ancestors who walked before them. Their work pays homage to the energy of the divine feminine, which is omnipresent; it is found in the sky, within the home of their loved ones and filling the hollow insides of various vessels. This energy source fills them with the knowledge they bestow upon us as we engage with their work.

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ARTISTS

Sonia Elizabeth Barret's offerings: Dreaded Maps and Small Sky, prompt us to meditate on notions of Blackness by making it the centre of existence. In Small Sky, Black, fertile, life-giving clouds fashioned from Afro hair are encased in delicate glass vessels, encouraging us to reimagine ourselves in a way which disrupts the European paradigm of the white celestial. In this world, Africa is the central point and the beacon of knowledge.

I Am Because You Were by the Henry Moore Foundation Grant recipient Merissa Hylton urges us to contemplate how the decisions of the generations before us are woven and intertwined within ourselves. Paying homage to her grandparents, who are of the Windrush Generation, she proclaims, 'These vessels hold my story, and my story is dedicated to Shirley, Cyril, Neilon and Bernice. I am because you were.'

Similarly, Marcia Patterson's work is influenced by the legacy of the Windrush voyage. With the expose of the Windrush Scandal in 2018 providing a backdrop for her work, Windrush Betrayals is a cathartic release allowing Patterson to shine a light on the injustice and create space to critically analyse the situation in a manner that is conducive to positive change.

Jamaican-born Katasha Rose presents three paintings which she states embody the spirit of the people of her region. They aim to tell the untold narratives through the eyes of Jamaicans on the island.