Rachel Busby

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“The difference between A and O”

Paintings by Rachel Busby

 

These works are based on an ongoing research of sourcing natural pigment from unlikely areas around the world. I am interested in the usages of pigment aside from paint and was keen to look at the cost and the lengths it takes to acquire a specific item. My research has become a tenuous line to explore these possibilities. Whilst looking for the berry Annatto which is readily available in The Amazon, I misspelt the name and came across a town in Jamaica called Annotto.

 

I became fascinated with the images posted online of Annotto and decided the path was to narrate its very own story on a town and its people that I am unlikely to ever meet or visit.

 

Ravaged by extreme weather, poverty and violent crime, the town is projecting its image positively through education and tourism. Focusing on UNICEF photos of the local high school, it is here, I have concentrated on most, re-writing a new history and a new town.

 

Whilst the environment is alien to me, I look at humanity on an emotional level. Looking for points of interest that I’m able to identify with, these works are based on acts of kindness and the sense of collectivism and collaboration, connecting habit, memory and the familiar.
From the school, to the cemetery and high street, I catalogue a new town from childhood to death and little social in between.

 

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“Y gwahaniaeth rhwng A ac O”

Paentiadau gan Rachel Busby

 

Mae’r gweithiau hyn wedi’u seilio ar waith ymchwil parhaus i ddod o hyd i bigment naturiol o ardaloedd annhebygol ledled y byd. Mae gennyf ddiddordeb yn y defnydd a wneir o bigment ar wahân i baent ac roeddwn yn awyddus i edrych ar y gost a’r hyn y mae’n rhaid ei wneud i gaffael eitem benodol. Mae fy ymchwil wedi dod yn llinell denau i archwilio’r posibiliadau hyn. Wrth chwilio am yr aeron Annatto y mae digon ohonynt ar gael yn yr Amason, fe wnes i gamsillafu’r enw a dod ar draws tref yn Jamaica o’r enw Annotto.

 

Cefais fy nghyfareddu gan y delweddau o Annotto o bostiwyd ar-lein a phenderfynais mai’r llwybr oedd adrodd ei stori ei hun am dref a’i phobl nad wyf byth yn debygol o’u cyfarfod neu ymweld â nhw.

 

Wedi’i anrheithio gan dywydd eithafol, tlodi a throseddau treisgar, cyflwyna’r dref ei delwedd yn gadarnhaol drwy addysg a thwristiaeth. Gan ganolbwyntio ar luniau UNICEF o’r ysgol uwchradd leol, dyma’r lle rwyf wedi canolbwyntio arno fwyaf, gan ail-ysgrifennu hanes newydd a thref newydd.

 

Er bod yr amgylchedd yn estron i mi, edrychaf ar ddynoliaeth ar lefel emosiynol. Gan chwilio am bwyntiau o ddiddordeb y gallaf uniaethu â nhw, mae'r gweithiau hyn yn seiliedig ar weithredoedd o garedigrwydd a'r ymdeimlad o gyfunoliaeth a chydweithio, yn cysylltu arfer, cof a'r cyfarwydd.

O’r ysgol, i’r fynwent a’r stryd fawr, rwy'n catalogio tref newydd o blentyndod i farwolaeth ac ychydig gymdeithasu rhwng y ddau.