AM I grew up in a creatively supportive home with Susan Mains, a well-known artist as my mother. There were always opportunities to try things with the materials she had in the studio. I am mostly known as a painter, but I also delve into sculpture, installation, photography and video work. One of the central motifs in my work over the past several years is using local materials as I believe these help to tell a story.
AM One of the ways people connect with my work is by recognising material and seeing it in a new way. Objects have a mnemonic quality and remind us of previous encounters. With my "unstaged" series, I want the paintings to come across as 'indirect', with an emphasis on not trying to be true to a photo reference, but rather to paint in the way that we tend to remember things, in bits and pieces.
AM The scenes I tend to paint in a fairly indirect way represent very typical scenes in Grenada from the perspective of a typical Grenadian. We have a lot of beauty around us all the time and the "unstaged" series is about looking for little moments of beauty in the every day.
JJ Growing up with my mom in the kitchen, I learnt a lot about our traditional dishes. When I create any dish, I always grab the staple seasonings, herbs and spices. Sometimes I might want to make a spinach quiche, but I'll grab some calaloo and make a calaloo quiche instead. Or when I make an oil down I'll pack the breadfruit first and cook it on firewood because that's how my foreparents did it. I'm always weaving in Grenda's stories and cultural heritage by simply applying the same methods and using the same ingredients to ensure that our rich culture never fades away!
JJ Living in Grenada and waking up to the beautiful aromas of chocolate, ginger and bay leaf in the cocoa tea in the morning, nutmeg in the ice cream mommy made, cinnamon and clove in the brown stew for lunch and many more amazing scents is what definitely drew me closer to the kitchen.
JJ My favourite way to make dining a shared experience is by teaching people and cooking together with them in a natural space like a waterfall, beach or river because all my ingredients come from nature.
JH Grenada's rich cultural heritage is out there to discover! Visitors can see artefacts from the indigenous Amerindians through European colonisation and the island's independence from Britain at places like the Belmont Estate and the Grenada National Museum. There are also several cultural tours and tour guides that share some of the amazing historical facts about the island.
JH Of course! The resort is currently dressed in our national colours as part of the yearlong Golden Jubilee celebrations. We feature local entertainment six nights a week, giving guests a taste of our culture and talent. This includes the steel pan orchestra, which is an instrument indigenous to the Caribbean. We have also held cooking demonstrations to teach guests how to make our national dish, oil down, and for the Independence celebrations, we hosted a special lecture by one of Grenada's top authors and historians, Dr. Nicole Phillip.
JH There is so much potential for growth, not just in tourism, but across a wide spectrum of industries. Grenada, though small in population, possesses a wealth of raw talent. As this develops, a new generation will come together to be the driving force for economic growth on the island.