Young artists connect with their world

Safiya Hoyte, Zariyah Ashby and Michaela Regis may be young but they intend to change the way young female artists are viewed. The three will exhibit their work at the ThinkArtWorkTT Studio in Woodbrook from October 20-21. The exhibit is entitled Nexus.

“I find that women in arts are not taken seriously, especially young, up and coming artists,” Hoyte told WMN. But she has no intention of letting that prevent her from doing what she loves.

“My favourite media are acrylics and mixed media. I use sand, paint scraps, textured paint and stones. I find that traditional painting essentially makes me feel like I’m in a box, so I want to take myself to the next level. Challenge myself and bring a more modern view to art.”

The 20-year-old also does three-dimensional clay sculptures and her artwork revolves around her life experiences as well as her viewpoints on society and its proponents.

The former Bishop Anstey High School student pursued art up to sixth form level. “Art has always been a fundamental part of my life,” with her father Fitzroy Hoyte as her mentor.

“I see art as a platform which can be manipulated to connect, communicate and initiate change among individuals on a psychological level.” One of her goals is to study Studio Art and Art Therapy, which she believes will help with the development of TT. "Art is essentially the link between me and society. It allows me to physically manifest my thoughts in a contradictory and purposefully thought-provoking manner.”

Regis, a 19-year-old Visual Arts student at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine primarily works with mixed media and portrays mainly Caribbean women. “I paint who I see. The women in my life, my mother, my grandmother. To me they represent warmth and life.”

She said she is heavily influenced by her love of reading, as well as her appreciation and love of anime and manga. “I mostly read fiction. It’s amazing seeing what people can conceptualise and create.”

Also a former Bishops girl, Regis said Instagram, specifically the Instagram fashion brands such as fashion Nova, helps with her creativity. “The fashion scene is bold and risky, and often times how particular items are paired together makes me just want to paint and capture all the crazy styles as well as the imagined scenario for them."

Ashby has a special love for art, music, and literature – her inspiration for some of her artwork. The 19-year-old said she spends a lot of her free time immersed in different types of movies, music and literary works.

"Whenever I paint, my aim usually is to create things that are beautiful. More than painting and drawing, I really want to create things, I want to design things and to maybe even craft. I wouldn't like to say that I am obsessed with the female figure and form, but it may appear that way because this is often what I depict in my art.” However, these days she said she has decided to explore different subject matters for her paintings and drawings.

"Music and art itself have always been really inspirational thematically in my artwork, as well as films, cartoons, anime and video games that I've played,” Ashby said.

"I really love watching Indie/foreign films, most recently I found myself really inspired by the cinematography/visuals of the film Call me by Your Name, which really affected and has been fundamentally inspirational in my artwork of late.”

This is not the first exhibit for the trio. “I have done exhibits at school. Plus we all did an exhibit with the Women in Art Society,” Hoyte explained.

So what do they expect out of this exhibit? “Generally, we expect to an extent to have our artwork impact on the people who attend our show. A thought provoking, appreciation for the artwork we can produce,” Hoyte said.

“Also, that we can be an inspiration for other creatives. To encourage them to step out of their comfort zone and put their work out there,” Regis added.