Liverpool Biennial is delighted to announce the release of ‘The Warrior’s presence is safeguarded for generations to come’, a limited edition print of an Anchovy Pear Warrior by Charmaine Watkiss, that debuted at Frieze 2024 as part of Allied Editions.

Watkiss exhibited at Liverpool Biennial 2023 ‘uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost Things’ with her work ‘Witness’, which was shown at Victoria Gallery & Museum in Liverpool.

Watkiss’s practice connects research into African Caribbean diaspora, which is then mapped onto female figures that resemble the artist. She draws herself as a conduit to relay stories which speak about a collective experience; starting with an idea, then allowing intuition and a dialogue with the work to take over.

Charmaine explains ‘The Warrior’s presence is safeguarded for generations to come’:

“My practice looks at the Botanical Legacies of the Caribbean. I am particularly interested in the knowledge of plants and healing traditions from Africa which travelled across the transatlantic along with the enslaved. Much of this knowledge was sought after by people such as Hans Sloane – (whose collection formed the basis of the British Museum). I have recently completed a fellowship looking at the two volumes about the Natural History of Jamaica which was written by Sloane; and the plant warrior I have made for this limited edition is one of the plants that he documented in Volume 2 of that publication.

This Anchovy Pear Warrior is a tree which is indigenous to Jamaica – and I chose her for this limited edition precisely because once upon a time she was endangered. The fact that she is quite rare makes her special, I have connected her to Jamaica’s revolutionary history because she grows in terrain that once upon a time was not easily accessible by westerners.

She is a survivor because she is no longer on the red list of endangered species – her status is now stable. So I have christened her accordingly: The Warrior’s presence is safeguarded for generations to come.”

Charmaine’s recent exhibitions include: The Wisdom Tree, her first institutional solo show at Leeds Art Gallery; Drawing attention: emerging British artists group show at the British Museum; and Breakfast Under the Tree, curated by Russell Tovey, a group show at Carl Freedman Gallery. Her work is held in private and public collections including: The British Museum, London UK; The Government Art Collection, London UK; Cartwright Hall Museum, Bradford UK; Abbott Hall Museum, Kendall UK and Nasher Museum at Duke University, Durham NC USA.

Charmaine Watkiss, ‘The Warrior’s presence is safeguarded for generations to come’, 2024. ©Robin Clewley