WHILE some fledgling artists hope to make a huge impact immediately after leaving school, Petrona Morrison, who has been in the industry for 45 years, implores them to be diligent.

“I’m 65, so it’s just a work in progress. I think a lot of young artists expect a lot of recognition when they come out of art school but you have to focus on the work. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to exhibit outside of Jamaica and inside of Jamaica and it’s all because of the work, so you just have to keep working,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Morrison hosted her exhibition titled ‘New Works’ at 10A West King’s House Road in Kingston last Saturday.

Morrison grew up in Kingston and attained her first degree in fine arts at McMaster University in Canada, before matriculating to Howard University in the United States, where she completed her Masters.

Having participated in hundreds of exhibitions, she said New Works had a unique twist.

“It’s a long journey of a lot of things that I’ve been thinking about; how we’re represented…is it your external? Is it your internal? So the [art] work is connected to how we are represented, but also how we’re connected to a wider range of things, like how we’re connected to the Earth, genetics — we are a number of things other than the exterior,” she explained.

Morrison’s exhibition comprised 16 pieces —14 digital collages, one video and one installation.

She was awarded the Gold Musgrave Medal from the Institute of Jamaica in 2014 for her eminence in the field of art and art education.

While the turnout was low for Saturday’s showcase, onlookers were impressed by the pieces.

“They are very powerful; it was a wider sort of relevance and somehow communicate our own experiences,” researcher Sharon Chacko told the Observer.

Artist Amy Laskin shared similar sentiments and commended Morrison for her “great work”.