Karen / Kay O'Callaghan
I am a Canadian artist living in the UK and the Caribbean.
For many years I worked as a teacher in UK first schools before becoming a Head Teacher.
During the school holidays I wrote children's books and then went on to build and run a large nursery school. Throughout this time I travelled to many parts of the world. When I discovered the Caribbean islands, I became interested in West Indian culture and traditions. I enjoyed the lilt and rhythms of the music and the diversity of people and dialect.
It has become my favourite part of the world and I was especially drawn to Tobago of all the islands that I visited.
So much so that I bought a house on the island where its internal beauty captivated me.
The intense beauty of tropical islands lead to vivid colours in the earth, creatures, flora and fauna. These are mirrored in the costumes, the traditions and buildings.
Visual representations can reduce such images to the cliches of the National Geographic or tourist photography.
I am interested in how the dramatic contrasts of light and shade create intriguing silhouettes. A mystery is established that encourages the viewer to delve deeper.
Heightened by subtle gestures, looks and the interplay of the characters, my pictures look for a truth in an unguarded moment and the intimate positioning of space.
Avoiding elegy or irony, I strive to convey insights of the present, of life lived and observed raw revealing the extraordinary in the ordinary.