Tobago artists in Art Society exhibition

Four pieces from two Tobago artists are among the Art Society of TT's (ASTT) November Members’ Exhibition – NOVSHO/20.Tobago Visual Arts Association's Jeannine Lethe Crouch, 42, and Nazim Baksh, 42, each have two submissions on display. Sixty-eight pieces were shortlisted from 111 entries.

The exhibition, which began on November 27 and ends on December 18, was launched at the society’s headquarters in Federation Park, Port of Spain. It features pieces from over 30 of its members.

Both artists are originally from Trinidad but moved to Tobago. Their work has been on display in several art exhibitions and has grabbed the attention of art lovers worldwide.

Baksh was only six when he moved to Louis D’or, a village in east Tobago. Over the years he developed a love for the island’s natural wildlife habitat and pristine scenery, which motivated him to recreate its beauty through art.

Self-taught, he is well versed in a variety of mediums including water colours, oils, pen and ink, and acrylics. His subjects range from landscapes to panmen and portraits, but mostly echoes the cultural aspects of Tobago. Twenty years later, Baksh is a full-time artist, founder of Tobago Art and co-founder of Tobago Visual Arts Associations.

Baksh's Humming Bird 1 and Humming Bird 2 paintings, which were selected for the exhibition, were inspired by his fascination with local birds. He said the pieces were done using only a palette knife and took him a little over a month to complete.

Crouch's love for the visual and performing arts remains strong, more than 30 years since graduating from UWI’s Creative Arts programme in 2001. She continues to nurture her love through teaching and exhibitions. She is currently involved in community projects encouraging young people to get into art.

She said The Struggle is Real piece is a social critique while Pandemic Effect 2021 deals with the fallout from covid19. “The Struggle is Real has some figures climbing on each other to portray the status of the climate of Tobago…Like crabs in-a-barrel mentality and they climb all over in order to progress…The Pandemic Effect 2021, the angel seen in the painting is there to collect all the lost souls covid19 has taken from us. And it shows the colours of different countries but you see it moving away from TT.”

The paintings took seven months to complete

She said, “Painting, for me, is my other half, the part that completes me, allowing me to be whole. Every painting for me is a struggle of an intellectual process into self-discovery. My craft aims to show the world my being. That is, how I perceive the chaotic order unfolding before me. “The painting process goes hand in hand with my observations, hopes, dreams, ideas, feelings and fears, as I apply layers of thin, to translucent, to opaque glazes of acrylic on canvas, achieving a build-up of colour that is richly emotive, and intricately, fascinatingly complex. I capture moments in totality, with a unique perception of its modern spatial qualities and dynamics. I document, to transcend the passage of time with records (of) life as I see it and live it.”

Owing to covid19 guidelines, the Art Society was unable to host its usual grand opening. Art lovers can still visit the exhibition on Saturday, and from Tuesday to Friday from noon to 6 pm. It is closed on Sunday and Monday.