A first for the series, a mother and daughter, discussing parallels between their work. They have both successfully bypassed conventional and formal routes into painting and publishing winning awards and five star reviews. Following her teaching career, Yeside Linney, is a mostly self-taught artist who has quickly accrued multiple awards, including two national awards in The Women in Art Prize. Yeside was born in Nigeria but sent to Britain to be educated at a very young age, where she has lived since the age of 4. Her paintings, be it landscapes or portraits are free of convention and layered with textures, history, emotion and courage. She found she could only paint her autobiography and investigated her Nigerian heritage, particularly the cultural riches of the Yoruba tribe. She, herself is often painted too and her portrait by artist, Peter James Field, has also recently been hung in the National Portrait Gallery.
Her daughter Claire Linney, author of children’s books, brings to life historical people of black and mixed heritage. Claire is writing black history back into Britain’s historical narrative that has been mostly excluded from the school curriculum. Our new Labour government is now conducting a review of the national curriculum with important questions about equality, diversity and inclusion still to be answered. Claire’s first book, The Time Tub Travellers and the Silk Thief, has 5 star reviews from both the buyers and young readers. It’s a fast paced adventure that returns to Tudor England and best friends Zula and Milo, encounter Reasonable Blackman, a significant, historical figure. He was one of the earliest people of African heritage working as an independent business owner in London at that time, a black silk weaver with rare and sought after skills enjoyed only by aristocracy. It’s an adventure in healthy curiosity, openness, exploration and learning.
We talk about historical representation and the impact on identity today, the dominant beauty narrative versus diverse, cultural expressions. We look at how history is what is and isn't painted on a canvas, or is and isn't written on a page. This is a celebration of healthy curiosity and courage from a mother that is "insatiably curious" and a daughter who is "constantly curious." It's an inspirational journey of their courage, bypassing gatekeepers, rules and barriers, to paint and publish with their own permission.
Images from the Scarification series © Yeside Linney
Images of the Time Tub Travellers, book cover illustration by Onyinye Iwu,
with kind permission of Claire Linney.
Discover Yeside Linney: www.yeside.com
Discover Claire Linney: www.clairelinney.com/
Series Audio Editor - Joey Quan.
Series Music - Courtesy of Barry J. Gibb
Closed Captions are added to all audio interviews in this series.
Read only, text transcripts of every interview, news, reviews and your host, Paula Moore, are available here: www.canartsaveus.com
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