Artist Sarah Beckett explores how people feel in Lockdown Love

Who would have thought that the word whimsical could be connected with covid19 face masks?

Artist Sarah Beckett did, as they are featured in her newest, 22-piece exhibition, Lockdown Love which began last Thursday and ends on Wednesday at Arnim’s Art Galleria in Newtown, Port of Spain.

Despite the fact that the viewer cannot see the subjects’ faces, the pieces feel intimate, as if you are looking in on private moments.

The first section, Wish You Were Here, are portraits done in warm colours where you can almost feel the affection for her subjects. They are large pieces done in oil paint and gold leaf.

The Anniversary section celebrates love in all its forms. Several are in cool, deep blues and greens and are done in gouache and collage.

All You Need Is Love is a Valentine’s gift section done in ink, gouache and glitter. The small pieces are full of pink and hearts and may remind some of art on greeting cards.

Beckett told Sunday Newsday her work reflects the elements that represent TT society including “African Caribbean, Indian Caribbean, Latin Caribbean, whitish Caribbean.”

She explained that her media are instinctive, not an intellectual decision. For example, the All You Need is Love series started as something to do for fun as she wanted to create something sweet. So, she started drawing and eventually coloured them and painted the frames.

She has also used the media of gouache and collage all her life. She enjoys it and does a lot of her preliminary work in those media before painting in oil.

In addition to her varying media, she has also painted in numerous styles throughout her career and so has never been able to label herself as an artist.

“I am now launching, officially, a movement called ‘hopeless romantic.’ All my life, even though I have gone through some really dark times, really what drives me, I think, is that I’m on the side of Eros (the Greek god of love). Particularly now that I’m older, you treasure the beauty and loveliness around you.”

She said older people relate to the world in a slightly different way to youths. She appreciates how lucky she is to be in TT, including the weather, the people, and the fact that people can move about and leave their homes unlike in other countries.

As if to punctuate the hopeless romantic movement, while she was painting she listened to love songs from decades ago by local, regional, and international artistes. They included ballads from artistes such as Stalin, Baron, The Mighty Sparrow’s Fool for Love, Buju Banton, Bob Marley, and her theme song for the exhibition, Jaime Echavarria’s Serenata de Amor.

Lockdown Love came out of her October 2020 show, Lockdown Moment.

“And because we’re all still masked and living with distance and Valentine’s is all about love, which is a contradiction, I thought I wanted to do a lockdown valentine show and to cheer people up and make them feel happy.”

Beckett noted that, in the beginning of the pandemic people were gardening, learning new things, and helping each other but the energy is no longer the same. Now, people are weary with the restrictions and being away from their loved ones.

She said people’s hopes were raised when they learned about the various vaccines but those hopes were lowered when they heard about the mutations. Also, around this time is supposed to be Carnival, which is “hardwired into the Trini soul” so it all hit people hard.

In addition, she lost a friend to covid19.

“Statistics are one thing. We look at them and think, ‘Oh my God,’ but all you need is just one person you love to go and it hits you right in your chest. So, this show is a little moment of enchantment.”

She added that, personally she is not troubled by being alone. Generally painting is a solitary activity, and she likes to read and write. But she lives on a compound with great people so while she has her solitude, she is not lonely.

What troubles her is not having the option of travelling as, because of that, she missed her son’s wedding, and her grandchildren’s graduations.

“We can’t make plans. That’s what it is. We’re kind of living from day to day, from month to month. That sense of being able to make a plan is one of the great things of human freedom. So, what we’re learning to deal with is to live absolutely in the present, which isn’t easy. And the longer it goes on the harder it is.”

Despite these negatives, she believes it is an artist’s responsibility to create. She said the arts can reflect, criticise, highlight injustice, grief, woe, and mourn for those who are suffering. But the arts can also inspire and celebrate.

“I really wanted to see people’s eyes light up and smile when they come to the show. I want them to forget the facts of the issues every single one of us are feeling for that moment in time.”