My interests are closely linked with my background as an individual who was born and partially raised in Grand Cayman, a small island in the English-speaking Caribbean. My interests have led me to use a process of drawing that transforms found materials like decorative ceramic plates. The process involves transferring my hand-drawn sketches into overglaze gold graphics through digitally manipulated vinyl decals. I intended to transform the decorative plates within my drawing process to appropriate a found material that is commonly associated with keepsake items.

With the drawing compositions, I have focused on depictions of male characters shown in intimate moments or moments of self-reflection. These depictions of males are accompanied by the existing graphics of flowers that are on the decorative plates, making my drawn figures appear as if they are in garden scenes. The drawing compositions reference scenes from Star Trek, a popular sci-fi series, and scenes from Smile Orange, a satirical film from the 1980s that critically analyzed the effect of tourism on Black males working in a Jamaican tourist resort. I was interested in both these source materials throughout 2021 because they showed me representations of males (particularly Black males) expressing complex narratives through their emotions and moments of reflection. I found these narratives inspiring and mesmerizing. Moreover, I have redrawn selected moments from these narratives and mixed in some of my self-portraits, adding myself to these emotional narratives. I want these drawings to be compound representations of male intimacy, self-reflection, and provocation, contrasting the figurative narratives and pastoral scenes usually depicted on delftware or chinaware ceramics.