Jamaican Observer: Interview with Jacqueline Bishop

I’m honored to be profiled in the Jamaica Observer’s Bookends section as part of their #CaribbeanStrong series, which highlights creatives across the region who are working at the intersection of art, identity, and cultural memory. The feature, written by Jacqueline Bishop, offers a wide-ranging look at my journey as both a writer and a visual artist, and the ways these practices continue to inform each other.

In the interview, I speak about my early years in Barbados and New York, and how those geographic and emotional shifts shaped my perspective. The article traces my move from a career in publishing into a full embrace of visual art, specifically collage. I talk about artists who influence me, including Romare Bearden, Kara Walker, Wangechi Mutu, and Kerry James Marshall, and how their use of the figure and form continues to shape the way I see and create.

We also explore how literature has been foundational to my visual practice. Writers like Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, June Jordan, Paule Marshall, and Cheryl Clarke have deeply impacted how I think about composition, rhythm, and layered meaning. The beauty and urgency in their work influence the way I build each collage.

My current work centers the Black female form, not only as subject but as a site of inner life, presence, and resistance. Natural motifs—floral forms, tangled leaves, and branching shapes—function as visual anchors and conceptual pathways. These elements reflect both the tenderness and strength of Black womanhood, as well as the complexity of navigating multiple environments and expectations.

I also speak to the role of improvisation in my work, and how the act of collage allows me to shift between the spontaneous and the intentional. Each piece is both a meditation and a construction, grounded in process but open to surprise.

At this point in my career, I’m focused on building a practice that allows both language and image to live side by side. Jacqueline’s thoughtful questions helped me clarify how collage allows me to bring together all the threads of my creative life: writing, identity, political awareness, and the desire to make something meaningful and lasting.

I’m grateful to Jacqueline Bishop and the Jamaica Observer for the opportunity to share this story and to be included in a series that celebrates the creative possibilities within the Caribbean and its diaspora.