I am an artist, not just by profession but by my very existence.

-Desanna Watson

Bio

EARLY LIFE

Desanna Watson is a young, Jamaican, mixed media painter and Art Educator. She was born on August 8, 1997 to parents Denroy Watson and Susanna Ormsby-Watson as the second of a pair of twin girls. She has two sibling, Desan Watson (twin-sister) and a younger brother, Denroy Watson. She spent the first 14 years of her life in East Rural St.Andrew in the farming community of Mount Charles District. Her mother was a school Bursar and her father a farmer and mini-bus driver. Watson traveled into the country’s capital, Kingston, daily for schooling where she attended the St.Andrew High School for Girls (STAHS), one of the country’s top secondary institutions.

Education

She attended the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts where she earned a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts: Painting in June 2018. Since then she has pursued a career in Art Education at the Brimmer Vale High School in Port Maria, St. Mary. Watson is a firm believer in the power of education which she continues to demonstrate in pursuing other technical qualification. In 2019, she completed the Level II-National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in the Foundation of Drawing and Level II Photo Editing. In 2020 she completed the Level IV- NVQ in Assessor Training. Currently Watson is pursuing a Masters of Science In Leadership in Education at the John Moore Liverpool University.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Watson emerged onto the Jamaican art scene in June 2018 with her first exhibited work, “Retention of A Colonial Past,” featured at the Edna Manley College: School of Visual Arts Final Year Exhibit. A work which was featured at The Collection MoDa, MoDa Market 2018, in collaboration with Mercedes Benz. Watson has since been awarded the La Practica (residency) in November 2020 by New Local Space (NLS) in Kingston Jamaica. The residency recently culminated with the La Practica Group Exhibition which closed in March 2021 and featured her work, “Women and Ownership: Her Stories.”In this body of work, Watson explores the narrative of acquisition and how the feminine body is sought after, stolen, sold and handled as a lifeless piece of property. In April 2021, Watson began a series of Instagram-live discussions called Creative Gist where she opens her platform to Caribbean artist/creatives/cultural practitioners to dialogue about pressing issues affecting creatives. Creative Gist is aimed at building a space for creatives to find resources and networking opportunities with fellow artists/curators and collectors.

Her Work

Watson has lived in several parishes and communities across Jamaica, all of which has shaped the interest of her practice to explore the effect of status, wealth and influence on spaces. Watson’s practice is aimed at engaging viewers in the social, personal and cultural history of the Jamaican landscape. Her body of work analyzes the difference in access to quality life determined by geographic location, status, race and gender. Watson explores a range of media including: paper, acrylic, screen printing ink, thread and assorted fabric and archival maps. Her practice’s aim is to engage viewers with the historical and current trends of spaces in hope of allowing persons to identify institutions and structures that alter their way of life.

Contact

Email: desannawatsonart@gmail.com

Instagram: @desanna.w.art

Facebook: Desanna Watson Art International

LinkedIn: Desanna Watson

YouTube: Desanna Watson Art International

Desanna Watson standing in front of her work, “Women and Ownership: Her Stories,” 2021, mixed media on canvas. Photo Courtesy of : Rebecca Williams at New Local Space (NLS) Kingston.

Image of Watson’s earlier studies in 2018 featuring the city of Kingston 1907 town plan. Photo Courtesy of: Jordan Harrison (owner)