Amber Perrier
London Under Lockdown
Amber Perrier has always drawn London’s buildings, but lockdown has given her space and time to reconvey their significance during a time of crisis.
Monochrome City sketch white pen on A4 black paper
When not working from home as a Community Engagement Officer for the British Library she has retreated into the calm that art gives her, away from the daily news. She lives in Thurrock, Essex with her family, after 23 years in Newham, and has a degree in fine art from the University of East London.
Amber has enjoyed experimenting with new techniques and materials over the past year. West End Lights, using light-coloured pens on black paper, recalls the hustle and bustle of London before it descended into silence, reminding us that when lockdown is over, we will, once again, enjoy the bright lights.
Westend Lights posca pen on A4 sketchbook
Housing Crisis, represented by the London tube coiled round houses and skyscrapers, signifies the frustration of people not being able to afford housing in the city either because they have been furloughed or like Amber, aged 26, is unable to afford the high prices.
Housing Crisis pen on watercolourpaper A4
Thames Ink is her map out of lockdown – the reds and blues of Transport for London, the bronze for residential areas, the green for the environment and the gold for the ponds and streams, connected to the River Thames, areas that we can rediscover when released.
Thames Ink Acrylics ink on canvas
London’s buildings are not her sole inspiration. She drew a flower in remembrance of the people who have died of COVID-19. People’s conversations on social media, with friends and family during the Black Lives Matter protests exhausted her. She felt restored by Grace, a representation of herself as a black woman. The reds, yellows and greens represent the different bright colours of the Caribbean islands where her parents have roots – her mother in Grenada and her father in Dominica. The earring of the black power fist says, ‘I am standing by you’.
Grace
Amber has used social media to her advantage during lockdown – to network, link up with Newham Locked Down Window Arts https://www.nlwa.co.uk and to get commissions. In ‘normal’ times she would be out and about running art workshop and visiting exhibitions. But she will always find peace in retreating into her art”. Social media sometimes gets too much so I have to find something to take my mind off it.”
Amber Perrier is on Instagram @amber_perrier and Twitter @amberperrier1
Newham Locked Down Window Arts www.nlwa.co.uk