‘What constitutes art?’ is just one of the questions posed in this interview between Dr. Lea Haynes and Trinidadian visual artist, Richard Rampersad. In this feature, the artist speaks about his earliest experiences with art, from doodling on walls as a form of narrative expression to the development of more intricate etchings, as well as the role art education has played in shaping his skill set and artistic consciousness. In this exclusive interview for ARC Magazine, Rampersad speaks about the fundamental ideas his artwork seeks to interrogate as well as the foregrounding of the female figure.
Born in the year 1990, Richard Rampersad is a young and vibrant artist. His passion started from the age of 10, and grew immensely since then. With a first class honours in Fine Arts at the University of the West Indies, his dream in the near future is to become an art educator. His work reflects his personal journey in exploring Hindu mythology and the dynamics of the female figure. Rampersad works with a plethora of media and styles, utilizing various degrees of abstraction in the execution of his paintings. He draws, paints, creates and strives to find fulfilment in his ability to translate thoughts and visions on canvas without words, instead with the ripeness of colour and texture.
Alongside his practice as a painter, Richard also creates and designs jewellery, ceramics, textile design and Rangoli art. As he continues to be inspired by the timeless aesthetics of Indian Art, this visual engagement became evident in his own works where his subject matter, style and colour palette is concerned. His intense use of colours and strong sense of design constitutes his unique aesthetic. This artist tirelessly seeks to interrogate and investigate the notion of conceptualizing and executing Indian art within a local context and space. Usually this is done not in a literal sense, but in the context of applying symbolic genres and dynamic structures within which the human experience, meaning and value are stimulated and emerged. “My fascination for anything I see, feel or experience propels me to do what I do and how I do it. As my art is a true mirror to my mind, I take pleasure in doing what I do and I believe my conceptualizations deduce more than what meets the naked eye. It is looking into the deepest recesses of the human heart and soul.”
Richard Rampersad. Photo credit: Ronald Ali. Photograph courtesy of the artist.
Leanne Haynes: Richard, interviews and articles about you state that you have been involved in art from the age of ten. Can you explain to ARC’s readers about your early exposure to art?
Richard Rampersad: My passion and keen interest in the creative realm inspired me to become an artist. I have always had an immense fascination for art; at around the age of ten, I can remember doodling with crayons on any surface that they found their way to. These markings transcended beyond “nastying the wall,” but became a ritual that went beyond pictorial representation, thus becoming the affirmation of one whose ontological foundation expresses the will to use the media (crayons) as a vehicle to convey my ideas or narratives. My exploration with crayons evolved further, manipulating them even more by creating low-relief etchings on them as well as incorporating them into the “sgraffito” technique. Areas in both the fine arts and design (decorative craft) were investigated. Being introduced to art at a formal level whilst at secondary fuelled and propelled my artistic investigation.
LH: You completed a degree in Visual Arts, specialising in Fine Art and graduating with a 1:1, from the University of the West Indies. To what extent did art education equip you for your current (and indeed future) role as an artist?
RR: My formal training has presented me with a plethora of skills, methodologies and conceptual consciousness as it relates to both 2 and 3 dimensional expressive forms of Visual Arts. I was engaged in the handling of a mélange of media and technique in attempts to “solve” technical and aesthetic concerns. Consequently, it provided a good opportunity for the selection of what I intended to pursue and explore at a deeper level. Visual Arts and art making is a forever changing paradigm, and as such I see the need for constant exploration of media, style and technique in perhaps unorthodox and avant-garde ways that may never have been imagined whilst I was a student at the University of the West Indies.
Ramepersad’s ‘Subjectivity, Ambivalence & the Contemporary Imagination’. Photocredit: Amit P. Rameshwar Singh.
LH: Following on from this, how important is art education in the Caribbean and how is the role of the artist viewed in Trinidad and Tobago?
RR: Art education in the Caribbean is to me is as important as any other subject area. Visual Arts can be seen as an inter-disciplinary area that lends itself to other academic pursuits. Further, it fosters and improves decision making, critical thinking and enquiry, motor skills, inventiveness and – imperative in a Caribbean landscape – cultural awareness. The Caribbean has had a rich and diverse history of art that stood through the vast spectrum of time: from the Amerindians (Tainos, Kalinagos, Mayans) to the Europeans, then the African enslaved peoples with their influences, as well as the impact of the various Indentured groups (Chinese and East Indians) and the pre and post-independence artists. Unfortunately, despite this colourful and intricate history, there aren’t very many platforms for an art education in the Caribbean, which makes the reality a bit more disturbing because we are a visual society known for creativity and innovation. Take, for example, Carnival. This is a supreme emblem of artistic exploration and engagement as it involves mastery in areas of Fine Arts and Design. In terms of innovation, we have given the world the famous steel pan. This is indeed a very refreshing way in which a discarded oil drum can be transformed into a country’s national instrument.
LH: As an artist, what duties do you consider yourself to have, if at all, to your audiences?
RR: I believe more respect can be given to artists and other creative practitioners. The typical Trinbagonian’s perception of an artist is someone who just paints “pretty pictures.” However, it is my view that an artist embodies so much more. I believe we are the creator of emotions, excellent thinkers driven by ideas and we always critically question our reality. We have the duty of enlightening society by creating work that goes against the “pretty art culture/tradition.” Work that has a deeper narrative, that is conceptual, idea driven, innovative, avant-garde, contemporary and challenges the intellectualism of modern art.
Ramepersad’s ‘Subjectivity, Ambivalence & the Contemporary Imagination’. Photocredit: Amit P. Rameshwar Singh.
LH: When researching your work, I was struck by the scale of some of your paintings, with particular focus on the paintings in the ‘Subjectivity, Ambivalence, and the Contemporary Imagination’ collection. Despite the physical hurdles of painting such large-scale pieces, what other difficulties did you face with this series?
RR: When an artist decides to work on such a monumental scale, issues of perspective, proportion, foreshortening and surface treatment of the subject matter come to the forefront. The artist is essentially zooming into the subject, and this can create dialogues and narratives conceptually which in turn would need to be addressed technically (technique) via the chosen medium. I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of working on a large scale – it fosters carefree and confident mark making.
LH: What role does light and mood play in your creative output, in particular in your paintings?
RR: As far as I can recall, the harmonious relationship between light and shadow was always a dynamic system, which created profound structure. Apart from the theory of form and modeling on a more narrative standpoint, I used it symbolically to illustrate light over dark, good over evil.
From Rampersad’s ‘Clay Consciousness Series’. Photo credit: Richard Rampersad. Photograph courtesy of the artist.
LH: One of the questions you pose in your series, ‘Subjectivity, Ambivalence, and the Contemporary Imagination’ is “Do they [the female figures] appear helpless and fragile?” What prompted your focus on the form, and indeed, prompted you to pose this question?
RR: I have always been fascinated by the female figure as a central subject matter in art making, whether through sculpture, drawing or painting. I am very much concerned with the narratives/ideas associated with representation/illustration/interpretation of the female figure. I seek to question really “what is she?” Is she a sign of fertility, grace, beauty, charm, modesty? What about issues of scopophilia or voyeurism? These are what prompted my focus on the form. Concerning what led to the question “Do they [the female figures] appear helpless and fragile”…I attempted to create work that would steer the emotions of the viewer through my colour palette and ways in which I structure the composition and mood of the painting. The intention was to create visual statements capable of leaving some type of resonance with the viewer.
Ramepersad’s ‘Subjectivity, Ambivalence & the Contemporary Imagination’. Photocredit: Amit P. Rameshwar Singh.
LH: What constitutes art?
RR: Creative intuition, imaginative and technical skill is paramount in establishing what constitutes art. Following this is the notion of creativity, innovation, interpretation and aesthetics. Art can sometimes be such a broad and even vague term as it is an umbrella for many other aesthetic disciplines. Additionally, whatever purpose art is created for – communication, aesthetics, psychological and healing, entertainment, social inquiry, ritualistic, symbolic and religious – if it is done well, it is a good work of art.
LH: You have experimented with various mediums (painting, drawing and ceramic sculptures). Which one are you drawn to most and for what reason(s)? Equally so, which one poses the most challenges?
RR: There isn’t one area that I am drawn to most, I enjoy each form of art making for different reasons. For example, I like the spontaneous and quick marking making nature of drawing, it allows for the easy documentation of an idea or composition. Painting as it relates to my studio practice is much more planned, precise and developed. It includes greater manipulation of technique and media. With ceramic/sculpting, I enjoy the oneness with the clay as a vehicle to convey my thoughts and visions. Nothing can be more therapeutic than the throwing of a form on the potter’s wheel, that spiralling movement cupped in the palms of my hands.
LH: What are you working on at the moment?
RR: I haven’t resumed studio work, however I am mentally playing around with the idea of deconstructing the human figure and rendering it with a greater degree of abstraction. I intend to create some severely dramatic interpretations of the figure through strategic colour choices and tasteful textures.