Congratulations to Fine Art alum Valda Jackson, who received an MBE for services to Art in the New Years Honours List. Valda is a multidisciplinary artist and a published writer. Her practice explores the psychology of migration, identity and loss, and creates work about human existence and survival.
About Valda’s work
In her public art, Valda depicts stories interrogating our past and present through sculpture. In 2017, her collaborative public art practice Jackson and Harris won the PMSA Marsh Award for excellence in public sculpture.
Last year, Valda designed a new commemorative 50p coin to mark 75 years since HMT Empire Windrush arrived in the UK. This year Valda has a Summer exhibition at the Royal West of England Academy.
She has previously shown at The National Portrait Gallery, Royal West of England Academy Bristol and private galleries; and has lectured at the Royal College of Art, UCE Birmingham and presented papers at International Conferences in Universities across Europe.
Valda is currently a resident artist at Spike Island in Bristol – the internationally renowned contemporary art centre.
Summer show at Royal West of England Academy (RWA)
Valda is currently working towards her upcoming solo show at the RWA in Bristol. The exhibition’s main focus is the interest of the child of migration.
“It is about family – specifically children who are separated from parents who leave them behind to work abroad; some will wait years before joining their parents. But some children, for whatever reason, are never sent for, and they grow into adulthood away from parents, separated by more than just seas and continents.”
she explains.
The exhibition opens 25 May – 11 August 2024 at RWA, Bristol.
Valda designs new 50p coin to mark Windrush’s 75th anniversary
The coin pays tribute to the many British Caribbean and Commonwealth citizens who came to the UK between 1948 and 1973.
“My parents were among the generation of people invited to leave their home in the Caribbean to come and work in Britain. I joined them at the age of five.”
Valda explains.
The image on the 50-pence piece depicts two people of the Windrush generation against a backdrop of the Union Jack flag.
“My design is more than a celebration of one moment. It is an acknowledgement of the real, lived experience of generations of ordinary working people. And though we may have struggled, and we still struggle in many ways, we and our descendants are, in fact, at home.
The coin honours our parents and their legacy; and celebrates our presence, achievements, and contributions that continue to enrich our society.”
she says.
Valda at UWE Bristol
Valda studied BA(Hons) Fine Art at Bower Ashton, graduating in 1989 (from the then Bristol Polytechnic). As a student Valda worked at gaining skills that she continues to develop now.
“I had already begun to make images that had at their core our shared histories and experiences”
Valda reflects.
She still maintains a connection to UWE Bristol, hosting students in her Spike Island studio for talks, and mentoring individual students.
More information about Valda:
Valda’s collaborative public art practice Jackson and Harris