Leila Locke

Leila Elizabeth Locke (née Chaplin, 1936–1992) was a Guyanese artist. Born in England, she lived in Georgetown, Guyana from 1958 until her death, taking out Guyanese citizenship in the early 1970s.[1]

Background

Leila Chaplin was born on April 27, 1936 in London, and was raised in Dartington, Devon. In 1957 she obtained a Diploma in Art Education from The Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, specialising in painting, sculpture and pottery. She often returned to teaching in various schools in the UK and Guyana thereafter. At Corsham she had met sculptor Donald Locke. She travelled to Guyana to marry him in 1958. In 1959 she and Donald moved to Edinburgh , whilst he studied at The Edinburgh School of Art for four years.[2] She had three children, Hew Locke b. 1959, Jonathan Locke b. 1962 and Corrine Locke b. 1964 with Donald Locke. They divorced in the late 1970's.[1] She died on April 11, 1992 in a hospital on Barbados.

Work

Artist and anthropologist Denis Williams described Leila Locke as being amongst those artists that created a vision of Guyana: "They laid the foundation to what I have called critically the Guyana School of Art which constituted a body of artists struggling to find a form of art out of the given circumstances of their environment. Leila Locke contributed to that movement in that she brought her English outlook to bear on our intimate backyards, our houses, our jalousies. She was intrigued by the geography of our landscape and gave us a brilliant view of ourselves through our work."[1]

Locke cited Bonnard, Gauguin and Piero della Francesca as strong influences in her work. In the mid 1960's she produced paintings that is now referred to as her 'Kitty phase', after the Kitty district in which she lived. For some of these she would approach strangers and ask to paint their backyards. She recorded the varying activities and sights of local life. Elfrieda Bissember (later Director of Castellani House, Guyana, Guyana's National Art Gallery) has written of her paintings "It is a record of a contemplative moment, complete in it's details of unassuming but essential elements of any Guyanese life...There is a delicacy and unity of colour in the artist's handling of paint, and she has created a scene of great simplicity, warmth and directness...harmoniously designed in it's unassuming details within this framed glimpse of a local backyard...thoughtful and limpid". From the mid 1970's she produced paintings that were a complete departure from her earlier work: non-representational, bright, abstract patterns and motifs, one of which was a strong recurring motif of a stylised Amerindian man with sun-ray markings around the head.[2]

In later years, commercial and studio ceramics became a more central part of her work. Whilst living in chilly grey Edinburgh for four years she started making pottery models of Guyanese houses to remind her of the year she had spent, models she continued up until her death. Her major ceramic piece was a tiled floor, made entirely of locally sourced materials, for the swimming pool of the then President. She described -

The swimming pool was expected to be blue but I thought it should represent creek water, and so we made 2" by 2" mosaic tiles in shades from cream to yellow, blue, orange, green and brilliant scarlet. When the pool was filled the movement of the water turned the pool into an enormous op-art painting constantly moving and changing.[2]

She wrote about an occasion in the 1970's, following her divorce -

I remember going on a picnic to Red Water Creek and while swimming in the creek looking at the sunlight shining through the water and making it from a translucent burnt sienna to a translucent yellow ochre, and the sparkling green water plants and water weed with tiny yellow flowers. If I went back to England I would not be able to see this light, this colour to inspire paintings. The landscape in England is so cultivated and there have been so many artists before me who have said all that can be said about that landscape. Whereas the Guyana landscape, the plants, have hardly been explored. I decided that I would stay.[2]

C.V.

1965 - Locke exhibited four works as part of The Guyana Week Art Exhibition at the National Museum,[3] one of which, "Claudette Reading", won the Burnham Gold Medal and was her first to enter the National Collection.

1965 - Contributed illustrations to "New World" magazine.[4]

1966 - Her first solo exhibition at The John F Kennedy Library.[2]

1967 - Was part of group exhibition at the Chase Manhattan Bank.[2]

1968 - Two person show with Judy Drayton at The John F Kennedy Library.[2]

late 1960s - With Agnes Jones, curated international children's art exhibition at Bishops High School, Georgetown. Contained work from children of many countries and a section of work by naive artists.[2]

1967-71 - Illustrated five children's reading books written by Beryl Gilroy, "The Green and Gold Readers",[5] published by Longmans specifically for Guyana, showing local scenes and modelled on local children.[6]

1971 - Illustrated "My Lovely Native Land: An Anthology of Guyana" [7][8] by Elma and A. J. Seymour, with a cover by Aubrey Williams.

1973 - Solo solo exhibition at The John F Kennedy Library.[2]

1975-79 - Seconded to work with George Henry Associates on the production of locally produced glazed tiles for the swimming pool of President Forbes Burnham[2]

1984 - Became Production Manager at the WRSM (Women's Revolutionary Socialist Movement) owned Vanceram Tableware factory.[2]

1985 - Received the AA (The Golden Arrow of Achievement) for her work in the arts.[1]

1988 - Was featured artist in group exhibition "60 Years of Women Artists in Guyana" at Umana Yana, Georgetown[2]

1989 - Was part of group exhibition "Themes and Variations" mounted at the National Museum in Barbados, sponsored by the Guyana/Barbados Association. This exhibition travelled to England in 1990 and was shown at the St.Albans Annual Caribbean Festival, the Commonwealth Institute London, and the Guyana High Commission London.[9]

Early 1990's - Set up the Timehri Ceramics Studio[1]

Locke produced public artworks such as a ceramic bust of Forbes Burnham in Kitty, Georgetown (circa 1986), four tiled panels at the Burial Place of President Burnham, and murals at the Critchlow Labour College and The Royal Bank of Baroda (1970).[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Claudette Earl, Leila Elizabeth Locke - an appreciation, Chronicle Family Magazine, April 19, 1992.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Elfrieda Bissember, 60 Years of Women artists in Guyana 1928-1988 a Historical Perspective, Guyana Women Artists' Association, 1988.
  3. ↑ Basil Hinds, Lockes, Savory and Munroe share spotlight in art show, Daily Chronicle, October 30th 1965.
  4. ↑ New World issues 19 and 23, published by New world Associates, British Guiana, 1965.
  5. ↑ The Green and Gold Readers for Guyana, book one, published by Longmans, Green & Co.Ltd, London, 1967.
  6. ↑ The Race to Read website, retrieved 2016
  7. ↑ My Lovely Native Land, published by Longman Caribbean, 1971.
  8. ↑ National Library of Australia, retrieved 2016
  9. ↑ SexyPink website, retrieved 2016
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