SALISHA “Salli” Stanley lives in the world of her paintings, with images that pop up any time: while reading a book, washing wares, walking in a park or trying to fall asleep. She describes her work as a “collection of life.”

Images appear to inhabit a space between the real world and the spirit world, with yellow-green skies and figures as delicate as gossamer. Images feel as though they float off into some unknown space.

“I’m painting the dream world,” she says at Medulla Art Gallery, Woodbrook, where her first solo exhibition, Mind Field, opened on July 11.

“There are spirits or mythical creatures in meditation or participating in some ritual. I don’t plan the paintings. An image – a mental photograph – just comes all at once. I go and paint that image – a snapshot in my mind – or write down the idea for the painting,” says the soft-spoken artist.

Her paintings feel deep and symbolic – something just out of reach for those who view her work. Yet they compel you to move closer and think deeper.

“My paintings symbolise something, but I’m not sure what. I think about the meaning after the images come. I don’t always know what the painting symbolises, but I know something is waiting to be discovered.”

Most of Stanley’s paintings were completed in Grande Riviere during the covid19 pandemic, which isolated us from 2020-2022. Those paintings capture soft light and convey hope on the horizon during that fearful time.

“The landscape in Grande Riviere has a lot to do with the paintings. There’s always the horizon blending into the beach that defines my work done there.”

Stanley, 32, grew up in Toco with her aunt’s family. Her early upbringing, with a schizophrenic mother and grandmother, created a surreal world where the line between reality and imagination blurred, but felt natural.

[caption id="attachment_1096135" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Salisha Stanley, left, expalins the meaning and thought process behind her work to Stella Beston, Elizie Beston, Gabriela Beston and Dominique Radbourne at the Medulla Art Gallery. - Photo by Venessa Mohammed[/caption]

“Maybe their experiences shaped me,” she said. “My grandmother was very spiritual and always talked to God.”

For a time, Stanley’s grandfather home-schooled her, because he believed formal education was corrupt. There were no siblings – just nature to explore. She noted the colours and the textures of life around her.

She sees her Spiritual Baptist grandparents’ influence in many of the figures in her paintings, who are looking down in a gaze that suggests worshipping or meditating. Many paintings include vessels: vases and bottles with smoke or mist twirling towards the sky and evoking mystery and mysticism.

Her art teacher at St Joseph Secondary School recognised Stanley’s artistic talent and encouraged her to study art. At UWI, she studied art theory, which created a bridge for her passion: exploring the psychology of art.

“Art can show you another place. It’s like a doorway you find yourself walking through. Painting that place ma