Alison West was born and educated in the south of England and London and has been living and working in Jamaica since 1976. On graduating from Hornsey college of Art, she left for Jamaica where she taught at Ferncourt High School in St. Ann and at the Edna Manley School of Visual Arts.

  These pieces speak of some of the birds which we see around our coastline, in particular the splendid geometry of the frigate bird in flight and the ponderous grace of the pelican. Another aspect of these creations is the sense of detail. Everywhere is the feeling of movement, yet the forms are riveted in their respective oil grounds - a blankness of white and off-white to suggest sea or sky- by an intricate, infinitely painstaking pen-and-ink tracery. One is not allowed to do more than suspect a collage of exceptional skill.

"I have been watching these birds for many years even before I began sketching, photographing and composing paintings about them. I have long been fascinated by the non-verbal language which holds them together in perfectly sinchronised flight formation as they soar up, over and through the wind currents."