Barb is an accomplished artist based in Wilson, NC, originally hailing from the vibrant city of Johannesburg, South Africa. Having spent several years in the advertising industry on the client services side, Barb made a decision to leave behind the constraints of the Apartheid system and relocate to the United States in 1985. Her professional and artistic journey has woven through the dynamic landscapes of NYC, Connecticut, and various cities in North Carolina.

 

Art has been a constant in Barb's life, evolving through childhood and spanning a range of mediums, including ceramics, print, acrylic, charcoal, pastel, and ink. While receiving formal training from well-known art institutions like the Hanes School of the Arts at UNC-CH, Barb remains committed to continuous learning and skill refinement.

 

Beyond her artistic endeavors, Barb engages in the transformation of spaces, infusing them with tranquility and personalized touches. Her art studio and gallery, housed within one of her renovation projects, The Edge Wilson - a 100 year old building - serve as a platform not only for showcasing her own work but also for featuring other artists, including her multi-talented husband, Sebastian Correa. Additionally, Barb imparts her creative wisdom through workshops on Creative and Motivational Journaling, as well as painting and drawing classes.

 

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

 

From a young age, the tumultuous politics of Apartheid deeply impacted me, fostering a lifelong commitment to exploring and expressing the feelings created by the profound conflicts I witnessed during that era. My art serves as a vehicle for grappling with the privilege into which I was born, residual emotional hangover from the dichotomy of being a bystander to a system built on racism, inequity, hate, and violence and yet having little influence to change things.

 

Having experienced both South Africa's Apartheid system and the systemic oppression of "the perceived other" in the United States and other countries, my art is reflective of a commentary on suppression and societal inequities based on religion, race, gender, ethnicity and nationality. The observations drawn from personal experiences, history and political conflicts worldwide led me to acknowledge the proven fact that art, music, and creativity are timeless tools for communication and catalysts for change.

 

My creative process often arises spontaneously, fueled by cumulative experiences and thoughts. While I occasionally explore landscapes and flowers and more benign subjects for my art, my true artistic "north" revolves around expressing inner conflicts and societal struggles, the dark and the light, the right and the wrong. The use of unpredictable materials, such as watery ink on uneven reclaimed wood substrates, fabric and other materials, allows for the creation of imagery beyond my intention, thereby emphasizing my ultimate, but sometimes absent trust ,in the artistic process.

 

The Buddha-like figures and faces in my paintings serve as ambiguous symbols of peace, sadness, confrontation, and contemplation, and other confusing emotions. The gender, race and ethnicity of the subjects featured in these paintings remain intentionally unclear, representing an amalgamation of imagery from various cultures, morphing across boundaries, to emphasize the reality, that we are all one.

 

Each piece I create is an original, semi-permanent snapshot of my present, a reflection of the past, and an invitation for contemplation of the future. With a dream of fostering unity and peace, my art embodies the hope that, through shared energy and equity, we actually can all be one. The evanescent nature of each creation is a reminder that, in the vast scale of the universe, everything is ephemeral, yet every mark made carries today's energy and captures a moment in time.