Artist Bianca Peake exhibits No Man is an Island at Soft Box

Bianca Peake is a ceramics studio assistant, a freelance graphic designer doing mainly event posters, and a production assistant for video advertisement.

“But all of that is secondary,” she told WMN during a phone interview.

“I consider myself an artist first. I am primarily a painter, and there is an element of performance that usually manifests itself as a painting,” Peake said.

Her work is on exhibit at the Soft Box Gallery, Alcazar Street, St Clair. Titled No Man is an Island, the exhibit began on May 27 and runs until June 11.

“My work is figurative and has a lot to do with the female body mainly. I come up with a cast of characters that are an avatar of myself... We can’t understand each other as we are, but we are not completely alone. We don’t exist in a vacuum because we are influenced by everyone else around us and shaped by everything around us.”

She said the 16 oil paintings and 13 monotypes – a unique image printed from a polished plate, such as glass or metal that was painted with a design in ink – is a continuation of a thought that has been going on for a long time, and one that will continue. She said the majority of the pieces were done in 2021 during the pandemic.

“There is so much to decode in a painting because you spend so long on it that you imbue so much of you into it, even when you’re not even aware of it… The exhibition is a continuation of thoughts that run through my practice, particularly of the conflict between the internal self versus outside perceptions of that self.”

Peake holds a BA in Fine Arts from Camberwell College of Arts in London, but said she was an artist long before the formal training.

“The natural talent was always there.”

Initially, she said, she went to Camberwell to study communication in design in a more pragmatic way, but decided to switch majors. She said while she is not averse to using other mediums, she prefers working with oil paint because of its versatility.

“There is a body to it and it stays open for manipulation for a long time. You can use so many mediums with oils and there is so much you can do with it.”

Peake said she loves working with her hands and the feeling of satisfaction she gets from seeing her finished products, and she loves nature, especially the ocean.

“The ocean is really important to me. My father has a boat house so I spent a lot of my childhood on the ocean…I use nature as an environment to symbolise the interior world. When I’m out in nature it feels like an expansion of my own mind.”

While she has done group shows in TT, London and Miami, the 25-year-old said this is her second solo exhibit.

Her recent exhibitions include Damned If I Do at Gallery 46, in London; and Relative, Ink Drawings, and A Shot to the Ego at galleries in TT.

“There is a group of great young artists with whom I have put on group shows – Khaffi Beckles, Elechi Todd, Chris Ross-Dick, and Kriston Banfield. I’ve learned so much from working with them…And then there is Christopher Cozier from Alice Yard, who has been a mentor to me and so many other people in the local art scene.”

Peake said her plan is to continue making artwork, experimenting, doing more local and international shows and putting herself out there to increase the chances of her work being seen by well-known collectors.

“I want to produce pieces that challenges me and pushes me out of my comfort zone, which is something that can be difficult for a lot of artists, especially when they become successful.”

And while her interpretation of her work holds much significance for her, she said she has certain expectations from those who view her work.

“I would like them to come up with their own narratives, because at the end of the day, when you see my work it is going to mean something different to you than what it means to me, and I have no problem with that.”

Soft Box Gallery hours are Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm and Saturday, 10 am-3 pm.