Eve By Edna Manley

Seductively symetrical in form and presence She calls it Eve, I call it sepia political Aroused motherhood of nation, a glamorous sense Of identity, modern and yet mystical Naked as a morning, smooth as silk dreams She looks back, not histantly, nor curiously Profiled the hidden breast, in streams Of provocativeness, the right hand assertively Shouldered on the fallen curtain of hair Lefting hand coming down where the stare Of vulgar eyes would fall, stripped of history But not of dignity, the umbilical memory Cradlles a lascivious eye against the dark skin Woman bounteous with beginnings, sister, kin. Edna Manley Eve (Ceremonial Dance) Edna Manley (1900 – 1987) studied art at Central St. Martins School of Art in London alongside fellow sculptors Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Her artistic career began by sculpting clay models of animals but she made her reputation as a wood carver. During her life she became known as the Mother of Jamaican Art, and claimed that it was in Jamaica where she found both her subjects and materials. The sculpture 'Eve' (1929) was presented to the Graves Art Gallery in Sheffield by the artist herself in 1937. .