ABOUT US

‘It takes more than orange peel to chase away ill will,’

DM Semple, 2020

DEVELOPING PAINTING PROPOSAL

“We like to think society is always making progress. But in an age of the Windrush scandal and a fight to see Harriet Tubman on a $20 bill, how much more enlightened are we now?”

Stephen Carl-Lokko, Curator, International Slavery Museum

Sorrow

I worked with the Association of Cultural Advancement through Visual Arts as artist/storyteller leading photo walks in the morning and twilight around the poorest ward in Kensington and Chelsea. The second cohort ran during the Grenfell Tower tragedy it struck me that no words were enough, photographers and TV crews gathered at the bottom of the tower block filming and reporting as people jumped to their deaths or burned alive in their homes.

That day I was ashamed to be a part of the broadcast media. I vowed that I would only add value to the area that I loved, but did not live in, because ‘Grove’ was the place that welcomed my parents when they arrived in the ‘Mother Country’, England. So the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and the Windrush Scandal caused sorrow in my heart reminding me that some are under extreme social stress and less safe because of racism and poverty.

Another observation I made was the company that managed the block was headed by a visual arts graduate, and so too is the Labour MP for the area, and I with a BA (Hons) had trained as a Fire Control Officer to get my daughter into a good secondary school to have a steady income, but the first time I talked someone into staying in a burning building until rescued. I realised it was a vocation; life or death for the person in distress; and luckily she was rescued safely that night. I vowed not to wage slave.

- I Sorg, Anders Zorn, 1880

One of the most successful art projects during that tragic time was ‘Come Unity’ and #24hearts project by artist Sophie Lodge. She taught people how to make hearts from willow and tissue paper outdoors in Maxilla Gardens. My developing painting practice is to learn how to paint a diverse range of skin tones in natural habitats, using live models and photographs. I’ll be using the Zorn palette; four colours; red, black, white and yellow. I anticipate the activity will take 20 weeks to complete.

Pigmentocracy

I have another public art project that deals specifically with the system of social and class distinction based on the skin colour entitled ‘Colourism’. However, this proposal is not for that project it is simply to develop my personal portraiture painting practise focusing on creating diverse skin hues from four colours.

-The Coloureds Codex, Keith Piper, 2007

International Slavery Museum

The International Slavery Museum acquired, ‘The Coloureds' Codex’ by artist Keith Piper in 2019 for a collection entitled Challenging histories: Collecting new artworks. The Coloureds’ Codex is a case with 15 pots of coloured pigment resembling watercolour paint, with Eugenic diagrams, classifying the enslaved and free people along racial lines, on the slave plantation.

The artwork references the era known as the ‘Age of Enlightenment’ when theories such as ‘Eugenics’ where used to classify people as inferior using cranial, facial and other physical measurements of the head and body.

Painting Portraits

I’ll attempt to paint 36 of flesh colours, more than the 15 documented in Piper’s artwork, as I am curious if the Zorn palette will be effective for a range of skin tones (see beauty swatches), and especially if the range of earthy skin tones are achievable or limited by these four colours.

- 36 foundation swatches, 2020

‘One Love is the focus of the true message.’

- Gabriel, Roy Davis Jr and Peven Everett, 1996

Can you give a one line summary of your development activities?

I want to use the four colours used to classify people around the world to show all skin tones require a combination of colours no-one is black, white, yellow or red. We have different shades and tones but essentially we are all humans or hue persons.

What are the main things you want to achieve?

Firstly, I would test my own theory; ‘One Love is the focus’, its kinda indulgent to brush-up on my watercolour and acrylic painting techniques; mixing colours, drawing; when people are dying in a pandemic. But in Lock-down I’ve rekindled my love of drawing and painting, abandoned after my O’Level in Art, and revived briefly after gaining a place at St Martins.

Secondly, painting and drawing has helped me to process personal and public grief. Like many people in the world I found it hard to express my feelings after the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the US, and the deaths of frontline workers like Belly Mujinga from Covid in the UK, but buying essential art supplies from Poundland helped, along with supporting Go Fund Me pages.

Finally I’d like to develop a consistent portraiture painting practice as a way to develop my understanding of: light; anatomy; perspective; flesh tones; translating live presence onto paper/canvas. As an editor I use my body less in the post production process which is a solitary and stationary, and does not need the physical presence of protagonists. One of the things I love about live film and video production is the unpredictable nature of the connection between the crew and talent, so painting live portraits addresses the presence I miss.

- Belly Mujinga, 2020 and Swedish Gypsy, 1919

Colonial Entanglements in Swedish Art History

‘It’s a twofold story. It deals with how art has actively participated in colonialism in Sweden and its involvement with racism and pseudoscientific theories like phrenology.

- Hanni Kamaly, Norwegian Artist

I’m torn, about Zorn

The palette is named after Swedish master painter, Anders Zorn, whose self portrait shows him holding the four colours. But controversially the artist is linked to Herman Bernhard Lundborg, a medical doctor and promoter of ‘racial hygiene’ ideology; Eugenics, Zorn was one of the financiers of the 1919 Breed Type Fair (Rastypsutställningen).

Having the time to practice and develop mixing and painting with the Zorn palette, is a challenge to pseudoscience according to the concept of race and biological principles in books like "RACE BIOLOGY. HERMAN LUNDBORG'S SWEDISH FOLK TYPES 1919 promoting the inferiority of non-Nordic people. So painting the diversity of skin hues from light to dark will not just be an academic exercise but also a chance to explore and document prejudice based on the construct of race.

How will you know whether you achieved these things?

Quantifying the opportunity to paint a myriad of skin tones with live people and photographs using the time and funds from the grant is like trying to drink water with an open palm at the moment. It feels too indulgent in my head, but my heart is saying have faith it’s not always the destination, the journey is important too. Learning to paint is my Jah Journey.

Why do you want to take this period of development, and why now?

In the past I have had caring responsibilities alongside working in the media, both parents, a child then teenager, but over the past two years I have been released from my caring roles, and it has taken about two years to regain a new equilibrium. I spent a lot of time teaching, mentoring, and collaborating with others, so during this period, many of my activities are solo enterprises, shared or streamed online for others to consume, comment and collaborate. I've a notion that I'd like to continue to paint, live in a community with other artists, and sell my work via a gallery, but that seems far ahead in the future. 

- Dee in Lee, 1990

About Me

I’m DM a lens-based artist. My focus is telling niche stories using multimedia including performance poetry, narration, animation, real-life first person witness testimony, and found music performed live.

I’ve been commissioned to direct and edit a range of ESF community video programmes and courses e.g. ‘More Colour in the Media’ a transnational documentary for the LFVDA in Greece and London.

I graduated from the LCP with an upper 2:1 in film and video specialising in documentary, editing and sound, our film 'Caste in Half' was produced by a female crew, and is distributed by People in Harmony.

My interest in distribution of niche film has endured, so when Amazon launched its OTT platform Prime Video, I recycled content into a three part series Teen Slam, a cookery show available on Amazon app.

Before university I was a poet the highlight of that time was supporting Pulitzer prize-winner Toni Morrison on her tour entitled Jazz. I was also a board member of the Ethnic Communities Oral History Project and have been published in 'A Ship and A Prayer' and 'Sailing on Two Boats'.

Awards, Prizes and Competitions

2020 Intermediate Unscripted Editor Award, ScreenSkills

2015 Contract Management, Sodexo Star Award

2010 Best Daytime TV Show, TV Times Award, This Morning

1997 Director Bursary, New Voices, New Visions, London Film and Video Development Agency

Public Arts Projects/Exhibitions

2018 'Minecraft Mosey', UAL, Artist, Outreach Art Project and exhibition of London Print Studios

2017 'Twilight Golborne Series', ACAVA, Artist, Public Art project and exhibition at Maxilla Gallery

2017 ‘We’re all prisoners of something’,  ACAVA, Artist, Public Art project and exhibition at Maxilla Gallery

2016 'Venture pacephotowalks', ACAVA, NHS, Artist, Public Art Project, exhibition at the Maxilla Gallery

2012-16 Koestler Awards, SJS, SLAM Poetry, Prison Art Project, Performance at Sodexo HMP BZ

Video Art

2021 Grandma’s Gift, Tidyup Media, Video Artist, live action and animation, 14 mins

2017 Before Mirrors, ACAVA, exhibited at Maxilla Gallery, video artist, 4 mins video installation

2017 In my suitcase, ACAVA, Video Artist, exhibited at the Maxilla Gallery, 7 mins video installation

1995 Power, Joan E Braderman, Video Artist/Performer, live performance, 8 mins fiction

1995 Fly? Joan E Braderman, Video Artist/Performer live performance, 5 mins documentary

1993 Jubilation Dey Yah! Kumina Dance, Filmmaker 10 mins experimental documentary

1993 360º, 16mm, LCP Writer, Director and Editor, 8 mins non-narrative storytelling

Performance Poetry

1992 Before Mirrors, Toni Morrison Jazz Tour, Performance Poet, cutting-edge theatre near west end

1991 Get on Radical, BBC Radio 5 Talking Poetry, Storyteller Performance Poet, National radio

1990 Dem a stereotype we, Apples & Snakes, Storyteller Performance Poet, fringe theatre

Publications

2016 The Rhythm Writer, Poetry Booklet, Tidyup Media Publisher, eBook and Book

2016 Pace Photo Walks, Blog, ACAVA, Artist/Journalist, Online, APP

1993 Sailing on two boats, Ethnic Communities Oral History Project, Oral storyteller, Book

1992 A Ship and a Prayer, Ethnic Communities Oral History Project, Oral storyteller, Book