Denzil Forrester

(born 1956 in Grenada. Moved to England in 1967)

 Inspired our mini theatre and backdrops.

 Why we love Denzil?

Denzil’s paintings explore the desire to find an identity within two cultures – Afro Caribbean and European.

His paintings can be really dark and broody but also really bright and full of the idea of freedom. He paints a lot of scenes from concerts, nightclubs and carnivals.

A lot of Denzil’s paintings deal with the racial tensions in England in the 1980s and his work has been described as “a series of historical documents related to the making of Black Britain.”

We wanted our young artists to engage with Denzil Forrester’s work on a few levels. We wanted to show them his use of colour and expression and allow that to inspire their backdrops and mini theatres. We also wanted them to recognize Denzil’s work as both timeless and as something that forms an important narrative in the making of the Britain they know today.

Deborah Roberts

Contemporary African American artist

Inspired our collaged characters.

Why we love Deborah?

Roberts challenges images of Black girls by creating collaged portraits full of imagination and all her collaged work has a very strong undercurrent of power and strength. Deborah has said that each portrait is unfixed meaning that being both fictional and made up of several components means that each portrait has the ability and strength to find their own way ‘amongst the complicated narratives of American, African American and art history.’

We love that she is using art to give a voice to Black people and particularly Black teenagers.

We also love that her work is super complicated with many, many layers but in simpler terms, it normalizes seeing Black people represented in art and that is super powerful.

We wanted our young artists to look at Deborah’s work and question inequalities that exist. We also wanted our young artists to use her work to inspire them to create amazing fictional collaged characters.

Kara Walker

Contemporary American artist

 Inspired our silhouette/shadow puppets.

 Why we love Kara?

 A lot of Walker’s art is made of cut out paper silhouettes, usually black against a white wall, which addresses the history of American slavery and racism. Her work looks fun and light but she uses her work to make really important points about things that are dark and serious.

We wanted our young artists to engage with pretty complicated themes while also making their own shadow puppets to add depth to their ongoing narratives.

Romare Bearden

(American 1911 – 1988)

 Inspired our collaged street.

 Why we love Romare?

 Bearden was an African-American artist. He had extremely light skin so he easily could have lived his life as white but refused to do so devoting most of his art to African-American life and the struggles of Black people to achieve respect and equality.

He is really well known for his collages, which are amazing. We love how he uses broken images to piece together a brand new image and we wanted our young artists to interact with the idea of fragments being pieced together to create a wonderful new whole.

Nick Cave

Contemporary African American artist

 Inspired our amazing masks.

 Why we love Nick?

Cave is most known for his ‘Soundsuits’ where his art is worn and creates sound as you move.

Cave talks about how his work represents a ‘thicker skin’, something he found he needed to grow as a child growing up in America. He suffered racism and was bullied for being different. His work today celebrates difference and creativity stopping people in their tracks.

Our masks created another layer where we could be whoever we wanted to be!

Nnenna Okore

Contemporary African American artist

 Inspired our amazing environmental creations.

 Why we love Nnenna?

Okore works both in Nigeria and the United States. Her largely abstract sculptures are inspired by textures, colours and forms within her immediate environment. She often uses discarded objects to create intricate sculpture and installations through repetitive and labour-intensive techniques. She examines her American identity versus her Nigerian identity and the contrasts between her homeland with that of the States. We embraced our natural environment in the Marshes and left our creations to be enjoyed by others to discover.