ONE ON ONE WITH EBONY...MY FEATURED ARTIST THIS MONTH

I must start off by congratulating Ms. Ebony G. Patterson on her latest accomplishment. She has been granted The Rex Nettleford Fellowship in Cultural Studies. All the best Ebony! I look forward to seeing how your work with evolve over the coming years.

If you are just joining me. I've been featuring one of Jamaica's well noted, young visual artists, Ebony G. Patterson. Catch up her previous features here:

Part 1 http://chevonesefender.blogspot.com/2011/07/part-1-of-2-special-feature-getting-to.html

Part 2 http://chevonesefender.blogspot.com/2011/08/from-gangstas-to-disciplezebony-g.html

The vivacious and opinionated artist shared some details with me, as I dug a little deeper into her life and the mind behind the works.

Ebony, would you say you've found your calling? 

It found me :). I mean if you think about it the conditions were right and ripe. Alot of people did think that I would have gone into performing. But people also knew that I loved the Visual Arts. I have always been a creative individual, so it was inevitable. Can you see me in a bank, in a suit????? Jeans for life! She also forgot to say converse shoes and gladiator slippers.

So you were featured as one of the speakers for TEDx Irie last April. That’s a big deal! Congratulations! What went through your mind initially when you got the news?

Thanks (blush***)! I thought, "MEEEEEEEEEE??????? Oh dear, I have to think about this." Then I said to myself, "are you crazy?! You can do this!" And so I nervously did! I was really terrified until I got up there.

In your TEDx presentation you ended with a rhetorical, 'where’s Ebony now?' So you’ve transcended to using photographical imagery for your work, will you ever go back to painting?

I am always painting! I just had a whole show of drawing in Chicago in March at the Monique Meloche Gallery. I use photography as a tool not a medium. I have not reverenced to it materially, so I treat it in the same way I would a painting, adding physical layers.  But as far as I am concerned I see those as painting ... because the language and the materiality is the same.

Things have a more 'juvenile' approach in Ebony's latest work in progress, similar to that of The Fambily Series. This time she focuses on gangsta babies and kids, with their bleached out faces, bad ass outfits, toy guns with balloons and teddy bears, of course.

Works not yet edited.

From left (back): Nzingha, Aziza, Zjadaine, Malachi, Jake
From left (front): Kaleb, Nasir, Daniel

Ebony instructs one of her lil' juveniles, Zjadaine, in her latest project, while Marvin Bartley shoots (Aug. 2011)

How many exhibitions have you been a part of to date?

Oh Dear Chevy! 'Whole heap.' Hmm, a number ... 40 or more, not including solos. I have been showing since Undergrad.

Out of the many exhibitions, which is the most memorable?

I would have to say my first major museum show, Infinite Islands, at the Brooklyn museum 2007. It was the first survey of contemporary Caribbean art by a major museum. I was just  a few months out of Grad school. Some people dont even get that kind of acknowledgement  during their whole life as artist; and to get that at such an early point in my career is tremendous.

What would be your greatest accomplishment to date and why?

Definitely The Rex Nettleford Fellowship. It's great that they wanted to support my project.

Do you consider yourself successful? Is this where you imagined you would be? Or are you surprised and have you a long way to go?

Hmm I think given where I am, I have aquired much success. But I wouldn't say I am where I want to be yet. Given where I am and how my career has developed things have been moving quite steadily.  But when I was a student at Edna Manley College I wasn't concerned about being a successful artist. I just wanted to make and share my  work.  As I have matured, I've maintained that in order to be where I am.

I'm where I want to be and that is important; but I am hungry for more and that keeps me focused and driven. Am I surprised? Sometimes, but its not because I didn't believe I had what it took. I am just as amazed at the amazing journey that what I love has taken me on.

                            

Outside of the sensationalism of dancehall and how it essentially influences the outward appearances of men in that realm, are there any topics that have intrigued you now that you will explore in the future?

Hmm, I am always interested in issues of gender and ideas about identity; the politics of identity; and beauty, but these are things that I have always been dealing with even before the boys came into the picture. I am not sure if I am so concerned about the future. The work always takes me on a logical course, so the work will take me where ever we need to go.

Do you sense a promise in the art community from the younger upcoming artists?

DEFINITELY. There is always promise. Jamaica has an institution that pumps them out every year. However the larger question is, what happens to the promise? And, of course, just like all students anywhere in the world, sometimes what you study in school is not the field you go into. However, for the few that really want to make it work and keep it going, it takes real commitment, willingness and inventiveness to survive. All of those take real work; and if you are not willing to do that then you can get swallowed up real quick! I think the National Biennials and Young Talent V exhibitions last summer at The National Gallery of Jamaica are  great testaments to the fact that we have much potential. As a community we have always known that we were never short of this.

What direction do you think fine art in Jamaica is approaching and why?

We are being alot more open, materially, but there has always been some sense of openness from the gerneration before with people Like Pertrona Morrison and Omari Ra. But I think some of the dialogues are changing. We are beginning to reflect on the issues of our generation, which is what art is suppose to do—to reflect on the concerns of our own time.  

While the discussions about identity are still ongoing, we now have the examination and deconstruction of an art historical discourse going with the work of young artists, who are the so-called western cannon of art making as a way to discuss social and racial issues. We also have artists who are discussing issues about gender, politics of space and popular culture, violence. These, I think, are more current dialogues that are being added to the ongoing conversation from the previous generation of artists.

What’s next in the agenda for you?

Well, I have a major solo project with the National Gallery of Bermuda in 2012 and another solo project in Martinique.

Now that we’ve handled all the serious questions let’s get to the more fun stuff...

What’s your favourite way to pass the time?

I love dancing! And hanging out with friends, talking about nothing, and going to the burger drive-thru for a quick long bite, round about midnightish.

What can’t you leave the house without?

SUNGLASSES, EARRINGS, AND ALL THE JEWELLERY!!!!!!! I like that people think I am badass sometimes. I think its funny.

Is there anything that gets under your skin?

Men in sagging pants!

Anything extra you want to share with my readers and followers?

Go out and see an exhibition, find an artist friend and be supportive. It is healthy for your development and theirs.

See more of Ebony's works here: 

http://moniquemeloche.com/ebony-g-patterson

http://www.seelinegallery.com/patterson.html

http://www.artitup.zoomshare.com/

Enjoyed the features with Ebony? Please share your sentiments and questions right here on this blog.


Don't forget to catch up on what you've missed right HERE:

Part 1 http://chevonesefender.blogspot.com/2011/07/part-1-of-2-special-feature-getting-to.html

Part 2 http://chevonesefender.blogspot.com/2011/08/from-gangstas-to-disciplezebony-g.html

Why I Love What I Do

It's stories like these that keep me loving what I do.  This stalwart, relentless fight to get that dream is the reason my blog even exists. I LOVE this story of the "The Help" writer, Kathryn Stocketts and her fight to have her book published.  A book that is now made into a movie, currently showing in theatres.


Enjoy the feature by MORE Magazine featured on shine.yahoo.com and staying true to my motto... guys, Never Give Up On Your Dreams.

Kathryn Stockett's 'The Help' Turned Down 60 Times Before Becoming a Best Seller

• by MORE Magazine, on Tue Aug 9, 2011 6:02am PDT

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Photographed by Ben Hoffmann

If you ask my husband my best trait, he’ll smile and say, “She never gives up.” But if you ask him my worst trait, he’ll get a funny tic in his cheek, narrow his eyes and hiss, “She. Never. Gives. Up.”

More from MORE: Three More Women Who Never Gave Up

It took me a year and a half to write my earliest version of The Help. I’d told most of my friends and family what I was working on. Why not? We are compelled to talk about our passions. When I’d polished my story, I announced it was done and mailed it to a literary agent.

More from MORE: The Woman Who Inspired 'The Help's' Feisty, Pie-Baking Maid, Minny

Six weeks later, I received a rejection letter from the agent, stating, “Story did not sustain my interest.” I was thrilled! I called my friends and told them I’d gotten my first rejection! Right away, I went back to editing. I was sure I could make the story tenser, more riveting, better.

More from MORE: Kris Jenner on Creating The Kardashians

A few months later, I sent it to a few more agents. And received a few more rejections. Well, more like 15. I was a little less giddy this time, but I kept my chin up. “Maybe the next book will be the one,” a friend said. Next book? I wasn’t about to move on to the next one just because of a few stupid letters. I wanted to write this book.

A year and a half later, I opened my 40th rejection: “There is no market for this kind of tiring writing.” That one finally made me cry. “You have so much resolve, Kathryn,” a friend said to me. “How do you keep yourself from feeling like this has been just a huge waste of your time?”

That was a hard weekend. I spent it in pajamas, slothing around that racetrack of self-pity—you know the one, from sofa to chair to bed to refrigerator, starting over again on the sofa. But I couldn’t let go of The Help. Call it tenacity, call it resolve or call it what my husband calls it: stubbornness.

More from MORE: Stars Who Went From Rags To Riches

After rejection number 40, I started lying to my friends about what I did on the weekends. They were amazed by how many times a person could repaint her apartment. The truth was, I was embarrassed for my friends and family to know I was still working on the same story, the one nobody apparently wanted to read.

Sometimes I’d go to literary conferences, just to be around other writers trying to get published. I’d inevitably meet some successful writer who’d tell me, “Just keep at it. I received 14 rejections before I finally got an agent. Fourteen. How many have you gotten?”

More from MORE: 50 Women You Want On Your Side

By rejection number 45, I was truly neurotic. It was all I could think about—revising the book, making it better, getting an agent, getting it published. I insisted on rewriting the last chapter an hour before I was due at the hospital to give birth to my daughter. I would not go to the hospital until I’d typed The End. I was still poring over my research in my hospital room when the nurse looked at me like I wasn’t human and said in a New Jersey accent, “Put the book down, you nut job—you’re crowning.”

It got worse. I started lying to my husband. It was as if I were having an affair—with 10 black maids and a skinny white girl. After my daughter was born, I began sneaking off to hotels on the weekends to get in a few hours of writing. I’m off to the Poconos! Off on a girls’ weekend! I’d say. Meanwhile, I’d be at the Comfort Inn around the corner. It was an awful way to act, but—for God’s sake—I could not make myself give up.

More from MORE: How 9/11 Changed Norma Komali

In the end, I received 60 rejections forThe Help. But letter number 61 was the one that accepted me. After my five years of writing and three and a half years of rejection, an agent named Susan Ramer took pity on me. What if I had given up at 15? Or 40? Or even 60? Three weeks later, Susan sold The Help to Amy Einhorn Books.

The point is, I can’t tell you how to succeed. But I can tell you how not to: Give in to the shame of being rejected and put your manuscript—or painting, song, voice, dance moves, [insert passion here]—in the coffin that is your bedside drawer and close it for good. I guarantee you that it won’t take you anywhere. Or you could do what this writer did: Give in to your obsession instead.

And if your friends make fun of you for chasing your dream, remember—just lie.

Don’t miss out on great articles like this one from MORE: Click here to sign up for our weekly newsletter!

Editor's Note: This essay appears in the anthology The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives, edited by Katie Couric and published by Random House in April. Stockett's novel went on to be a bestseller and the movie "The Help" premieres on August 10.

From Gangstas to Disciplez...Ebony G. Patterson Takes A Creative Approach to Dancehall

“Bleaching...no longer takes on the whole notion of colour inferiority…now it’s a statement of masculinity.”

For someone who has exhibited in more than forty group exhibitions, a growing number of solo shows, and has been feature in countless publications, one would think that contemporary visual artist Ebony G. Patterson has been on this earth for at least fifty years.  But nah, she’s only thirty.

It’s no accident she’s an artist today. Before graduating from The Queens School, Jamaica, she cautiously reflected on her life and what she wanted to pursue. As a child Patterson was constantly surrounded by creative people. Her mother’s first assignment for the then three year old was to draw a roach, of all things.  Her job was so, astonishingly, well done that the precious work of art was readily displayed among her mother's co-workers.

Patterson’s father had other intentions for the toddler, balancing his daughter’s drawing of roaches with birds  by teaching her how to sketch the chirping creatures. She mastered that easily, and while she commandeered the art of drawing she found time with her god-sister and musical neighbours to sing in their back yard.

With that kind of exposure it seemed only logical that she studied at the tertiary level at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA), where she majored in Painting. 

“My parents were both stunned when I said I wanted to be an artist and a part time singer.  Go figure,” Patterson  reflected.

Perhaps her parents suffered from a bout of creative remorse. But Patterson continued on a sure path, continuing her studies At Sam Fox College, which led to a secure post as Assistant Professor in Painting at the University of Kentucky. 

The contemporary artist has always been fascinated with Dancehall and its impact on Jamaica's working class. While dancehall culture tends to portray this form of aggression, Patterson undermines that notion in her collage of images—Gangstas for Life, which is an exploration of “the grotesque as the sought after beauty.” 

In other words: bleaching, the noticeable cross gender appearances in fashion, where saggy pants make way for a tighter fit; earth tone and more sombre colours becoming bright reds, oranges, greens or any bold representation of the lively transformation of dancehall and its cultural impact. 

In her recent TEDx Irie presentation held in Kingston in early April of this year, Patterson shone some light on one of her most recent exhibitions, Gangstas, Disciplez + Doiley Boyz. 

“Bleaching, it seems, no longer takes on the whole notion of colour inferiority…now it’s a statement of masculinity,” she explained.

Exhibit A: Patterson's impression of gangstas, their styles, and their bleaching

Behind the Scenes -- 'Gully Godz in Conversation', 2009 (Shot by Monique Gilpin)

I suppose if you consider the recent buzz surrounding Dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel and his proud proclamation of de-colouring his skin tone, one sees her point.  Kartel makes it clear that he is not uncomfortable with his race and instead glamorizes bleaching as a way of making him more attractive and desirable to the opposite sex.

Currently, Patterson is expanding her line of work, staying true to the dancehall stereotypes and prototypes. Her work in progress under The Fambily Series called The Brella Crew, is an impression taken in part from Kartel’s infamous personification of Michael Jackson having to walk under an umbrella when in day light to protect his skin from the sun. This work in progress will highlight in more detail how dancehall has not only shaped the individual, but the family unit. 


With the help of Photographer, Marvin Bartley, her two assistants, and models with impressive 'gangsta' impersonations, Patterson was able to pull off her latest project on the Brella Crew. Now she's even adding more intrigue by adding her interpretation, in pure Ebony form, of young gangsta disciplez, i.e., young children and teenagers.

See behind the scenes of the Brella Crew shoot here:

Her very own Vybz Kartel.  Ebony applies glitter to her models face to give the perfect bleaching effect.

With an assortment of gansta babies, teens and pack leaders, Ebony heavily deliberates the placement of each model for the perfect Brella Crew Fambily Portrait

gangsta babies Aziza (left) and Daniel (right) have no qualms about bringing it for the camera

Take a closer look at some of Ebony's works over the years:

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Join me a week from today, Monday, August 15 for a continuation of Ebony's feature: Part III titled "In conversation with Ebony G. Patterson"

Keep Reading...Be Smart...Be Beautiful...Be Blessed