Profile

Marcia works in textiles juxtaposing old chintz curtains and tablecloths that represent where she was born, brought up and lives, with the Dutch / African wax print fabrics that function as a shorthand for her Afro-Caribbean background. 

Her works can appear simplistic in execution and playful in intent, but they focus on complex subjects such as the depiction of the forgotten black women in history and myth, as well as her own mental health.

Marcia’s textile pieces are art therapy for her, they look at how she navigates through the world as a black female. They also depict black women from history, previously poorly documented, and they celebrate fantastical goddesses of myth and legend.

She uses her textiles like a ventriloquist dummy (hence the simplified doll-like figure) to comment on life and her surroundings. The titles of each are of great importance to her, and sometimes are the catalyst for a piece of work.     

Marcia’s influences at first were the embroidered flags of the Fante people, Ghana, Africa. She originally started her textile work using more elaborate, traditional stitches having studied embroidery at school, but she found that they slowed her down. Looking at the Fante style and execution gave her permission to relax from her formal embroidery training and be more spontaneous. It was also the fearless and visceral paintings of Frida Kahlo which abled her to work on an autobiographical level.

Marcia has repeatedly used two motifs as a shorthand: ‘The Blue Bird of Happiness’ and the ‘Minstrel’s Smile’. She often depicts the Blue Bird as a contrary creature, often taking a shit over matters. The Minstrel’s Smile denotes the false happy-smiling-but-strong persona that is assumed and expected of black women.

Equally important is her deliberate use of African wax prints as a shorthand to underline her black heritage. Juxtaposed is the use of chintz style materials bought in charity shops or car boot sales which she uses often in the backgrounds and as little hillocks. This denotes that the dominate culture that surrounds her is white English and that she lives on an island.