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About the art work: Heather Doram’s pieces are acrylic paints, machine and hand-stitching, beading and mixed media on felt. Of her choice of medium, Doram said: “Textiles connect art and life. Felt is very sensual. The colours and textures in my pieces appeal to the sense of touch. They stimulate complex memories, feelings of belonging to a culture and to a heritage.” Of her use of found objects, she said: “They are clues towards understanding my story and that of women in general.” Doram’s pieces also use colour as a visual short hand; while the textured surfaces act as a metaphor. “It is a process of gathering fragments of a variety of materials, overlapping and embellishing them in new contexts to express new meanings,” she explained. “This layering of fabric and texture mirrors a layering of meaning.” Her meanings are multiple, touching on femininity, sexuality, identity, aging, creativity; a changing society. “My art is a tool of empowerment. My work is built on passion for fabric and stitching, things old, and of knowing the past and present to build future. I leave familiar territory to explore new, to think outside the box and take on new challenges.” Creativity, she suggested, requires that reaching, that giving over to intuition, embracing some degree of uncertainty. “How we confront our fear is all part of the creative process.” • About the artist: Heather Doram is a leading Antiguan and Barbudan artist and award winning Carnival costume designer. She graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design, one of the leading art colleges in the USA, with a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Fibres. She continually stretches herself through mediums and has treaded the boards as an actress on the stage and in films with, among other projects, starring roles in the political drama No Seed for film and the Maisie and Em buddy comedy in development for TV. Her visual arts also intersected with the literary arts when she did the cover design for The Boy from Willow Bend by Joanne C. Hillhouse. In 2002 she was awarded the Grand Cross of the Most Illustrious Order of Merit for her contribution to the arts in Antigua and Barbuda. She is also the designer of the National Dress of Antigua and Barbuda.
tongues of the ocean 
Tammi Browne-Bannister
This is absolutely stunning.
A & B Writings in Journals, Showcases, and Contests (A – M) | Wadadli Pen
[…] HEATHER – Moonlight on Butterflies , Serenity, Rightful Place – in Tongues of the Ocean (special issue – Artists and Writers of Antigua and Barbuda) […]