Jasmine Violet, an artist from west Wales, has created a pastoral scene of three young black boys in the countryside. The piece, called Stepping Stones, was commissioned by the National Library of Wales to examine colonialism from different perspectives and broaden diversity in its collection and contributors. Violet was one of four artists who responded to an item with links to colonialism in the collection, using the existing collection as inspiration to shine a new light on the experience of colonialism.
Surprisingly, for the inspiration behind the piece, Violet chose a map showing the details of a sugar plantation in 18th-century Jamaica, worked by slaves who could conceivably be the distant ancestors of the three boys depicted in the picture. Violet, whose familial links with the Jamaican island influenced her decision, wanted to explore her own identity and heritage in response to the commission.
Violet studied at Carmarthen School of Art and is an inter-disciplinary artist who works part-time as a diversity and inclusion officer for the National Library. “I’m really interested in decolonisation… and having the opportunity to react to this was really important to me as an artist,” she said. Violet and fellow artist Mfikela Jean Samuel’s works were shown in the Wales to the World exhibition at the Riverside Gallery in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, until February, and they were able to put their day jobs into their work as part of the project.
Violet’s aim with Stepping Stones is to celebrate her stories of growing up in the Welsh countryside, exploring her identity and heritage, and highlighting decolonisation. While examining the contrast between tourists and village dwellers in Caribbean nations, she did not shy away from the darker aspects of history and how colonialism affected the people it impacted
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