Art Catalogue – Flux & Fire – RABT Design

Flux Fire Richard Bolai Adele Todd pdf

Book Design – ~ Five Jewelers and Their Art

Number of pages: 62 pages

Type of Book: Soft bound, perfect binding

Photography: Full cover – Photography by Michele Jorsling

Published 2005

The National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago created a catalogue of unpresidented quality and detail to herald the work of five female jewelers working in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and London.

Jewelers: Barbara Jardine, Jasmine Thomas-Girvan, Rachel Ross, Janice Derrick and Sarah May Marshall

Remembering Bookmann geocites 2004 – Jasmine Thomas-Girvan

Jewellery, unlike other artforms, engages us in a singularly intimate way. Because of its direct physical contact with the body it is experienced as an extension of the frame. Its visual impact along with its form and function are of primary importance to creating a work that has resonance beyond itself. I aspire to create pieces that exude wit and rhythm and are inquisitive, reflective and enjoyable. See the entire site pdf 3.5mb thebookmann – Jasmine Thomas-Girvan

For me, the process is intuitive. It begins to take shape through sketches that might immediately be made into a preliminary model, or sit and hibernate on a shelf as a mystery for a year or two then suddenly spring to life with vigour and crystallise in a flash. My pieces echo their organic origins. I am intrigued by the poetry in Nature and attempt to capture the elemental and ephemeral beauty and rhythms thriving in the organic world. I have always regarded Nature as a teacher and guide that constantly sharpens my senses.

jasminethomasgirvan@yahoo.com Tel: 868 626-2442 Website

The process may begin with a walk by the Queen’s Park Savannah; watching the tide in Carriacou; the thunderous cascade of Kaieteur Falls; imagining what lies beneath those sleeping volcanoes in Dominica; stumbling over a mountain of bodi in the market; inhaling tassa in St James, or simply flirting with hummingbirds as they hover over coffee blossoms in the Blue Mountains. The sources of my inspiration are as diverse and rich as the land we are privileged to walk on and its people: myths, architecture, literature, food, fashion, moonfire, birdsongs, radiowaves and even the way feathers mysteriously arrive carried on the wind. – Jasmine Thomas-Girvan

Art Crawl – Port of Spain

Adele Todd with Shastri Maharaj at Y gallery, Port of Spain

My friends and I took the opportunity to go see Shastri Maharaj’s show at Y Gallery, Jasmine Thomas-Girvan’s jewellery show at SoftBox and Che Lovelace’s show at the Trinidad Art Society space. We were also able to pop by More Vino to see the work of Shalini Singh. We never got to In2Art to see Jackie Hinkson’s group show, but we shall rectify that very soon, when during the coming week we go off to see the jewellery exhibition of Janice Derick. The Christmas season is nearing, and artists’ shows are coming fast and furious. That is a good thing, as there are so many things that people have to pay for if they want to be entertained, and an art show is one that is free of charge.

This Art Crawl, which basically is telling a group of friends about a number of shows that are on, plotting where they are situated, having everyone park at the furthest one and then car pooling to the others. Is a good deal. We get to spend the entire day focused on the work, and if the artist is there, as was Shastri and Jasmine, then that makes it even better.

Shastri Maharaj’s work representing aspects of the people of Trinidad and Tobago

The atmosphere at Y Gallery was practically festive as Shastri walked in. The space is naturally very bright, and for his body of work, thirty-six pieces, there was an opening up of new approaches. He continues to have the women on the plains, and the homage to Indian miniature, in such work as Lingam. But he also has a series of sensitively painted individuals with folksy titles like, “Uncle Ralph” and “The Housekeeper.”

Jasmine Thomas-Girvan’s show, Gems, is a visual delight of discovery, as she choreographs the space as well as entertains the eye with s prodigious one hundred pieces of work! The level of detail never grows stale, as every single piece is filled with enough whimsy, skill, charm, colour and shape to keep you lingering on and on. She also has a running film of her work, in case you may wonder how the piece looks from another angle or in another context. She has included bits of writing with some works that also inspire.

Shalini Singh’s show at More Vino, are long rectangular paintings that recall the work of Carlisle Chang in the early seventies. His look at Mas. This may be because of her colour choices. These panels are very affordable and decorative.

Che Lovelace at Gallery 101, Trinidad

By contrast Che Lovelace’s show at The Trinidad Art Society, fourty-four pieces of varying sizes, are carnival conscious. That is the theme he plays with, and like Singh, something in the handling suggests paintings in Trinidad and Tobago from the late 1950’s early 1960’s. The painting style is chock full of a past history, and in some ways despite the festive theme, there is an underlying sadness there. Mr. Lovelace uses a number of painting styles, dry brush, dripping,light application and dense colour tones.

Stuart Hahn with Adele Todd at Jasmine Thomas-Girvan’s jewelery exhibition, Softbox, Trinidad

All of the shows, save Ms. Thomas-Girvan’s Gems’, could have been better served by a bit of editing, as in every instance the space used was packed with work. It was difficult to enjoy one piece when another stood so closely by, competing for attention. This is always an issue for me. How a show is hung is as important as what is shown.We enjoyed going out together and having a chance to see several shows at once. We are looking forward to the shows to come, to do it all over again.

My flight from my nest – Jasmine Thomas-Girvan

lot of sweet lovemaking tonight……

Jasmine Thomas-Girvan display of objects at Soft Box Gallery, in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

At the Soft Box Gallery, in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on a evening quite cool and breezy, the doors are open to the work by the Jamaican metalsmith, Jasmine Thomas-Girvan. Both galleries are packed to the hilt, as this exhibition is her release unto the world of Hieronymus Bosch’s earthy Caribbean delights, that have drawn her admirers, buyers and onlookers with an feeling of awe and accomplishment. GEMS IN OUR MIDST has been commented as a show not seen to this scale before, with the body of work and beauty pertaining to its presentation. All conceived by one artist, all by hand.

The metalsmith has been working on this exhibition for over two years. It is elaborate, and her pieces have a dimension of playfulness, functionality and craftsmanship hinting on her Jamaican historical roots. In her presentation, the amalgamation of fret or filigree fittings shows her concern over an architectural motif which is disappearing in Trinidad.

One admirer simply said that she is an artist who has improved from her first show over five years ago, and where she began to toy with the idea with small sculptural figures. These has now manifested into larger, self standing pieces that are polished, intricate in detail and require buyers who have a sensory in taste for an objet d’art. – At Tiffany perhaps?

The show is a reflecting of her flight out of her nest, her corporeal transformation onto herself, her heritage and her love of the Caribbean. For Museums, collectors of fine crafted jewelery or specific pieces for individuals, GEMS IN OUR MIDST’ is a must see, to a portal into the finesse of purity and artistic devotion. – The mirror that is myself.
And where Jasmine Thomas-Girvan may blossom from here may very well be in the direction of the Fabergé Egg. There she can explore all the many facets, the mechanical workings, the playhouse and mystery of her cogs, infestation of her thoughts and to her Pandora’s box exposing fragments of her heart.

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For anyone wanting to see Art from a unique perspective, yet couched in the fantasy world of Heironymous Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delight (1500AD)You will be most pleasantly entertained by the highest quality, handmade pieces by metalsmith, Jasmine Thomas Girvan. Jamaican born has been living,working and exhibiting her exquisite wearable and ornamental objects for the last eight years. Every show has been an anticipated confection, and this one is no different.

Ms.Thomas-Girvan choreographs every aspect of her show,from the smallest pearl placed in the beak of one of her fanciful creatures to the fretwork holding a spirited shadow figure of caribbean folklore. To watch the steady growth and prodigious outpouring of hard work that is made to look so effortless, is to gauge the mind and the discipline of the elegant figure that is herself.

She speaks eloquently of her process, her delicate hands moving to express her vision. She is mindful of every step of the creative process, and the viewer is never disappointed by all of the attention to detail that goes on in her practice to get her work from production to the show.

She takes us on a journey that we never realized we wanted to go, and she leaves us wanting to join her all over again, and again. Hers is a mark of what is possible in the world of Jewelery, metalsmithes and beyond. – Adele

GEMS IN OUR MIDST at Soft Box Gallery, St. Clair, Trinidad. The exhibitions ends 18th October, 2008 . Soft Box Studios – 622-8610 for more information