Jasmine Thomas-Girvan

My work examines the human condition through the lens of history, culture, folklore, ecology and nature, by looking closely at the immediate Caribbean environment, investigating indigenous pathways, philosophies and mythologies. Each of my works examines positive knowledge, while suspending the earthly and mundane to imagine histories untold (to reference Wilson Harris’s idea – to ‘free’ our stories and lay claim to our cosmic potential).

I see my work as a praxis of inverse archaeology. The elements and materials used are all necessary for negotiating, exploring and questioning Caribbean history and culture, through and across time. My art practice involves uncovering subsumed histories and compiling these inventories, while asking the viewer to step more firmly into consciousness, to seek a closer understanding of our continuing roles in, and proximity to, unresolved national stories/histories. The pieces shared here invite the viewer to enter into ancestral histories, telescoping seemingly distant realms with our immediate lived reality, encouraging us all to gaze into the immense vistas of space and time to better understand our world. My work aims to provoke self-awareness within the architecture of history, nature and the cosmology we inhabit.

Jasmine Thomas-Girvan

All images courtesy the artist.

Jasmine Thomas-Girvan’s Website

Jasmine Thomas-Girvan’s Instagram