The works of nine Jamaican artists are on display at the Inception exhibition which opened at the CreativSpace in downtown Kingston on Sunday.

Curated by Malcolm Lindsay, Mikheal Deans and Shasha Porter, Inception explores the themes of power, disruption and evolution; boasting paintings, illuminated photographs, wooden sculptures and even special performances.

Speaking with OBSERVER ONLINE, Lindsay explained that having a group exhibition was deliberate in that it gives young artists a space to showcase their work while pooling together their reach to attract the attention of the wider public.

Lindsay said every piece within the exhibition is thought provoking, and in keeping with the upcoming holiday period of Emancipendence.

“The whole theme for the exhibition is really centered around disruption and how that ultimately leads to evolution. So the whole shift from colonization was a power move, which led to Emancipation and Independence. Our ancestors were the disruptors who ultimately forced the shift in power,” said Lindsay.

“Basically we as artists are being disruptive in forcing people to think more deeply about this power shift, with a contemporary lens. We hope that these pieces will inspire the next big shift, which I believe must begin with revisiting history and conscious thought,” added Lindsay.

Among the works on display is that of Monique Gilpin’s The Agony of Rebirth, a collection of photographs contained within digital lit boxes.

Gilpin shared that the work portrays a series of bodies wrapped in fabric and is indicative of the struggle one has to go through prior to triumph.

“It is representative of all sorts of struggles, all sorts of traumas -it’s a visual representation of that and what it may feel like. Because in some instances when you associate fabric and being caught under fabric, it is almost like a struggle to break through that, but then there is always like that element of triumph at the end,” said Gilpin.

Another exhibitor, Mikheal Deans, whose painting, ‘Colonial Ties’ was displayed, explained the ever evolving nature of power captured within his piece.

“In this piece, in the background, as symbols, I use some of the things that they (previous colonial powers) left behind like the chocolate, church, and pineapple. And a few more things like the mongoose they brought here to protect themselves but then the mongoose started giving them problems; because they started to eat their livestock foods. So it shows you the changing power dynamics,” explained Deans as he sought to explain the rationale behind his work.

“It is headless because the monarchy always changes. As you know, the other day we had a queen and now it is a king- that’s why I didn’t bother to put on no head, because somewhere down the line, you’re going to change off this again. I didn’t use a specific skin color, so you could decide whether it is black or caucasian or whichever, you know. But he’s in power now so I used his posture, because this reference is from one of his recent pictures that he did with People Magazine,” he added.

Sponsored by Kheal’s, Onstage TV, Strong Studios and CHASE Fund the Inception exhibition which features the work of Shasha Porter, Mikheal Deans, Malcolm Lindsay, Monique Gilpin, Tishana Fisher, Shediene Fletcher, Jeff Menzies, Ammoy Smith and Cerena Parkinson runs until July 28.