The accidental artist

Light jazz from Miles Davis floats through the open doors of Eka Davies’ home studio. There is no mistaking where you are, as oversized sculptured wall pieces, fashioned in paper and bathed in shimmering shades of gold, black and bronze, greet you as you enter.

The morning is cool and crisp, and the self-inspired artist is bursting with ideas and enthusiasm as she is about to bring her latest piece to life. The music, which always lingers in the background as she works, heightens the mood, and she is ready to do the paint-brush dance.

Her subject, hoisted elegantly on a small easel, is a representation of one of the I-Threes. Recently sculptured and overlain with a mixture of sand and tissue, the ‘sister’, complete with her dreadlocks hair, is but one of the many exciting new creations by Davies, a Papier Mache artist.

Davies is one of few such artists in the island, and art enthusiasts have hailed her work as “remarkable” and “unbelievable” — the way she uses paper and glue to represent real life images.

“Eka Davies’ work reflects creativity and ingenuity as she makes her subjects come alive,” says Leonie Wizzard of Island Framing. “I have seen others and hers is definitely the best. People love her work, and think highly of her talent.”

A Londoner of Nigerian parents, Davies came to Jamaica in 1994 with her husband, Lawrence, who is contracted to Cable and Wireless (Jamaica) Limited.

Content to be a housewife, as was always her ambition, Davies, although in possession of an honours degree in Management Sciences and Statistics from the London School of Economics, had no plans to work here.

“I thought I would stay home and care for my daughter, Georgia, who was only three month-old then. In addition, I did not know anybody or how to get around,” Davies, who is now fully-acclimatised to the island, tells All Woman.

With the birth of a second daughter, Savannah, in 1996, she was further grounded at home. But, although she enjoyed being a housewife, she also wanted to go out and do something.

Growing up, Davies was always fascinated by the complex and ornate Papier Mache furniture and ornaments produced in the 18th and 19th centuries. However, in school, she was not given the opportunity to explore the arts and deepen this fascination.

“My father, a pharmacist and my mother, a nurse, both insisted that I enroll in the sciences as opposed to the arts, and I therefore had no choice,” says Davies as she makes a decision on texture and skin tone of the sculptured model.

She eventually did a two-year part-time fashion design course at UWI’s Philip Sherlock Centre, graduated in 2001 as valedictorian and, at the end of the year fashion show, received a glowing review for her “avant-garde” designs.

But this was only the beginning. In 1999, she joined a part-time Papier Mache workshop and learned to make craft items. Seeing the potential in this medium and loving it, Davies began to experiment with sculptured paintings.

“I am fascinated with the concept of manipulating paper products to create art, and my work is born from the desire to see beautiful paintings emerge from the canvas and tell you their story in three-dimensions,” she says as she works the canvas which seems to come alive with every stroke of the brush.

The spirit of an idea or dream haunts many of the subjects in her work which are primarily women, mother and child and children in an expressive mode. One of her celebrated pieces — “The Dancer” — along with other exquisite works not only grace the walls of her elegantly-furnished home, but can also be viewed in the homes of diplomats and at other official residences. Art collectors and ordinary folk with a taste for the fresh and unique are also attracted to Davies’ works.

“I like movement, so most of my pieces will reflect this — dancing or other forms of self-expression. I also like to do large pieces, but I am thinking of putting out a miniature collection which I am told will move off the shelves easily. Most of the time the pieces come out as a ‘one off’, but I prefer to do more than one piece of the same because each time I work with the same idea, I add a new dimension to it while learning something new,” says Davies, who describes herself as an “accidental artist”.

An introspective, yet effervescent individual, Davies draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources, in particular the folk art of Africa, Central America and 19th Century Europe. But her pieces speak loudly in the language of Jamaican culture.

“Everyday I look around me, and everything is a source of raw material — people’s smiles, gift wrap paper, posters, magazines, colour combinations, etc, so my ideas do not develop in a vacuum,” she says.

Her work has won her the admiration of her peers and has also generated much commercial interest. Reflecting on her first crude sculpture of a mother and child, Davies acknowledges that she has come a long way in 18 months and presently, she is unable to meet the growing demand for her pieces, both locally and overseas.

“I am very encouraged by this fact, and I think pretty soon I may have to set up a real studio and get an agent to handle things. I see my art going a far way,” Davies says.

Her collection is showcased in outlets and arts and craft fairs in Kingston. On the heels of her first successful exhibition, she is putting pieces together for a number of craft fairs to be held over the coming holiday season.

“The pieces are in high demand, and I must admit feeling overwhelmed. I am getting many requests for limited edition pieces for wedding presents and general gifts. But while this is good, I prefer to do what I want to do. I just love to see people’s reaction when they see one of my pieces and try to interpret it. Some see love, joy, happiness, beauty and this makes me happy.”