' I wanted to honour my aunt’s legacy' Helen France MBE's tribute to Caribbean roots
When Leeds-based artist Helen France MBE picks up a paint brush, every single stroke is her way of keeping her treasured aunt’s legacy alive.
Her latest exhibition, Aunt Dolly’s Clay Pots, is a tribute to her late aunt Dolly Pinney, a talented clay pot maker from the Caribbean island of Nevis.
Dolly, who Helen describes as a “trendsetter in every way”, taught members of her community including her niece how to make the pots.
And not only does her skill live on in Helen, her spirit continues to shine.
Helen said: “From the clay she made pots and from that she earned a living.
“In the Caribbean, you don’t pay to learn the skill, it’s handed down, so she taught the ladies who made a living as well.”
The exhibition, which is based at Shine Community and Business Hub in Harehills, features 12 pictures painted by Helen which depict Dolly’s clay pot making routine and how these pots would be used.
The art documents the long process of clay pot making from sourcing clay from the riverbanks to kneading the clay to drying the finished design. Each picture is filled with colour, a trait that Helen believes reflects the Caribbean itself.
She said: “Everything in the Caribbean is so colourful.
“Even the water in the sea looks blue from the sky.”
Helen herself moved to Leeds from Nevis in 1961 as part of the Windrush generation. She built her art skills at Jacob Kramer College and Thomas Danby College (now Leeds Arts University and Leeds City College respectively). From her student days, she’s been drawn to art as a source of joyful escapism.
Helen said: “It makes me so happy - It is being in another world.
“It’s great to have an empty cloth or material and to put something on it that makes people stop and stay. I think it’s just wonderful”
Alongside the pictures of Dolly’s clay pot making practice, the exhibition also features a collage which features both the Leeds city landscape and the Caribbean as an ode to the two places Helen has called home.
Aunt Dolly’s Clay Pots is Helen’s second collaboration with Shine following her six-month Windrush Stories exhibition hosted at the hub last year.
The exhibition is free to attend so that it is accessible to the community.
Curating Aunt Dolly’s Clay Pots began several months ago as Helen endeavoured to create an exhibition that aligned with this year’s Black History Month theme “Standing Firm in Power and Pride” by emphasising heritage, diversity, and community strength.
Helen said: “Being Black History Month, I thought I should have something to represent and enlighten so I just started painting and took it in stages.
Helen hopes the exhibition will continue her aunt’s legacy but also inspire viewers to make their own art.
Helen said: “I think everybody’s an artist in their own way.
“I hope I've inspired them to think ‘I have to go home and pick up my brush and start’”.
Aunt Dolly’s Clay Pots will run at Shine Community and Business Hub in Harehills until November 10.