Alicia-Pearl Cato
BA Fine Art
Wimbledon College of Arts
Alicia-Pearl’s experience of battling racism in education and daily life has been the main catalyst for her work. Moving from a state school in the diverse city of London, to a predominantly white boarding school in a small rural town in Norfolk, exposed her to many kinds of discrimination. The contrast in city and rural life forced her to search for an outlet for the trauma that came from being on the receiving end of racial discrimination. With a strong focus on the celebration of black culture, and by using her Afro-Caribbean heritage as an underlying stimulus, Alicia uses her paintings to propose controversial statements and provoke conversations about race with those around her. Alicia-Pearl’s work is also heavily influenced by music and the media. These ever-changing influences ensure that she is constantly reacting to what is going on around her, be it the success of a black musician, or a discriminatory comment made by a leading world company. Alicia often creates responses to these events by combining textiles, text-based art and portraiture to generate questions and curiosity around these events, and the effect/s they have on our society.