Exclusive Interview : Joscelyn Gardner – in the framework of the exhibition Who More Sci-Fi than US
Click here for Interview in English.
You describe your artistic practice as being inscribed into a postcolonial feminist methodology. By wishing to unveil a forgotten part of history, do you consider yourself as a researcher (drawing inspiration from colonial documents and history)?
In my work I am trying to address the gaps and omissions in documented colonial history, especially with regard to the female Creole subject. In particular, I look at painted portraiture from that period as well as printed material (travelogues, natural histories, abolitionist publications) and unpublished documents (letters, plantation records) to locate my subjects and try to fill the void that exists in the visual documentation of their lives. There has been a lot of scholarship around the black Creole woman in recent times but not so much around the white Creole woman or white Creole subjectivity in general. This is the perspective that I offer. To unearth the voices of the women who have been overlooked, I look for any small insights that might reveal what their lives would have been like in the hope that by understanding this, I may come to an understanding of how postcolonial society in the Caribbean has been shaped by the past and why this history continues to haunt the space.
See Full Interview HERE
