Facey to show 'spirit' in home-based display

Working with (cedar and lignum vitae) Facey continues to strengthen her spiritual connection with nature through carvings which reveal the organic beauty of wood now suffused with her energy of healing and awareness. These power objects embody Facey's strong belief in art's ability to transform the viewer and create an extraordinary experience.

This has been her consistent message in what has been a remarkable professional year. Her Plumb Line installation won the National Gallery's Aaron Matalon Award in 2010 at the Gallery's annual biennial; her slave ship 'Their Spirits Gone Before Them' now resides at the World Bank in Washington, DC and its companion works 'Wash Me Clean' and 'I Am Clean' recently concluded their tour of the Legends International Festival of Contemporary Sculpture in Roeulx, France. Her presentation at the International Women's Forum conference on art transforming the world, as well as her presentation at the first annual Rex Nettleford Conference on the arts at the Edna Manley College, marked her newly found peace and solace in creating objects of significance

"Creating perceived 'power' objects fascinates me. Indigenous cultural tools and ritual implements which, over time, age and gain patina and a richness of texture, are my inspirational springboard. These 'tools' have the power to transform and create beauty: combs which symbolically untangle and smooth; sewing implements which repair and pull together separated things; oars which keep the body moving towards healing or to the 'other side'," she commented.

'Radiant Combs' is curated by artist and ROKTOWA creative director Melinda Brown and will be opened by international art critic and writer Edward Gomez whose involvement with Jamaican art began in the 1980s when he served as a cultural officer at the US Embassy. The works will remain on show at Mt Plenty, St Ann, through December.

For more information, visit www.laurafacey.com.