Marva Jackson Lord, Ecosystem and Meditation on Multilingualism
Poster box Commission
Platfform 2: June 10th - July 4th, 2022
Ecosystem and Meditation on Multilingualism are two new works by Marva Jackson Lord reflecting on voice, language and the realities of being a Black woman living in this part of rural Wales. In the pair of works, Marva centres her own silhouette in the landscape, evoking invisible histories of Black people in perceived white environments.
In developing this work, Marva wove together her first memory of hearing Cymraeg, when she thought she was hearing Jamaican Patois, with her personal relationship to landscape. Mapping Jamaica's Blue Mountains onto the Brecon Beacons, Marva traces linked histories and colonial legacies, underpinned by her long-term exploration of language, emotional memory and her deep personal connection with the land which has been her home for twenty years.
Commissioned by Peak and Pegwn, this is the first in a series of poster box commissions which will gently share artist works and research emerging from Casgleb, on Platfform 2, Abergavenny Train Station. Marva Jackson Lord is a Canadian-Jamaican artist based in the Brecon Beacons, whose work across poetry, sound and digital media explores landscape and fantastical narratives. Casgleb is supported by the Arts Council of Wales’ Connect and Flourish fund.
Comisiwn Poster mewn Ffrâm
10 Mehefin - 4 Gorffennaf, 2022
Dau ddarn newydd o waith gan Marva Jackson Lord yw Ecosystem a Myfyrdod ar Amlieithrwydd, sy’n myfyrio ar y llais, iaith, a realiti bod yn fenyw Ddu sy’n byw yn y rhan yma o gefn gwlad Cymru. Yn y ddau ddarn, mae Marva’n gosod ei silwét ei hunan yn ganolog yn y tirlun, gan ddwyn i gof hanesion anweledig pobl Dduon mewn amgylcheddau a gaiff eu hystyried yn rhai gwyn.
Wrth ddatblygu’r gwaith yma, plethodd Marva ei hatgof cyntaf o glywed y Gymraeg, pan oedd hi’n meddwl mai Jamaiceg roedd hi’n ei chlywed, gyda’i pherthynas bersonol gyda thirlun. Gan fapio Mynyddoedd Gleision Jamaica ar Fannau Brycheiniog, mae Marva’n olrhain hanesion cysylltiedig a gwaddol trefedigaethol, ac yn sail iddynt, ei harchwiliad hirdymor o iaith, cof emosiynol, a’i chysylltiad personol dwfn gyda’r tir sydd wedi bod yn gartref iddi ers ugain mlynedd.
Mae hi wedi’i chomisiynu gan Peak a Pegwn, a dyma’r cyntaf mewn cyfres o waith comisiwn Poster mewn Ffrâm a fydd yn rhannu’n dyner ymchwil a gwaith artistiaid sy’n deillio o Casgleb, ar Blatfform 2, Gorsaf Drenau’r Fenni. Artist Jamaicaidd-Canadaidd yw Marva Jackson Lord sy’n byw yn y Bannau, ac mae ei gwaith ym maes barddoniaeth, sain, a’r cyfryngau digidol yn archwilio tirwedd a naratifau rhyfeddol.
