YEAR: 2024

SUBJECT: Communication Studies

TERRITORY: Jamaica

CENTRE NUMBER: 100109

CANDIDATE NUMBER: 1001090176

CANDIDATE NAME: Jensine Zara Royes Chunnu

THEME: Art

TOPIC: How do we communicate through art

TEACHER: Ms Karen Lothian

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 Table of Contents

Table of Contents......................................................................................................................2

General Introduction...............................................................................................................3

Preface.......................................................................................................................................4

Reflective Piece.........................................................................................................................5

Analysis.....................................................................................................................................8

References...............................................................................................................................10

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 General Introduction

The focus of this Internal Assessment surrounds itself on the importance of art and

how we use this as a medium of communication. The desire to focus on this theme was due to

the increased awareness of how communication does not limit itself to the verbal scope but

also the nonverbal.

From this topic, I intend to find several secondary sources that will be crucial in

creating both the exposition and reflective piece. This will allow me to delve into the impact

of art on how we communicate effectively. My reflective piece will discuss this idea by

utilising journal entries to present how a woman can communicate her complex feelings

through paintings. My speech will focus on the effectiveness of art as a medium and

highlights source that tackled the nature of art as a medium of communication.

This theme allowed me to appreciate literary subjects alongside dissecting varying

approaches to communication through art. In the professional world, understanding how

communication can take place in different formats will allow me to cultivate success easier

due an increased awareness. Personally, I will be able to have a heightened awareness and

also create another avenue to produce effective communication with my environs.

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 Preface

For my reflective piece I have chosen journal entries entitled “Language of Paint”.

The use of journal entries for this reflective piece was chosen due to its ability to express

intimate feelings which plays a significant role in both communication and expression

through art.

I believe that this piece best tackles the chosen theme as it acts as a means of

inspiration that encourages individuals to express themselves in ways that challenge the

established norms of communication in Caribbean societies. The purpose of this reflective

piece is to highlight the fact that effective communication can take place through the use of

art. The intended audience are Caribbean persons who face struggles with emotional

expression. They were chosen due to emotions being traditionally suppressed and

misinterpreted throughout the Caribbean.

These diary entries would be effective as I believe it would capitalise on immersion

and realism due to its accurate portrayal of a young artist. Additionally, it would be shared

using both magazine columns and read aloud on the radio making it an accessible piece of

literature. This would maximise the opportunities for the target audience to be engaged whilst

presenting it in various ways which can be widely understood and appreciated.

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 Reflective Piece

The Language of Paint

August 19, 1947

Dear Diary,

Today I finally got a chance to collect my mail and go to the seaside. I must say that I

don’t think I can ever mature enough to not be flustered hearing sailors use their coarse

language. Anyway, when I finally opened the letter that William sent me, I was incredibly

disappointed when I read what he had to say to me. “I’m sorry Eliza, I can’t keep engaging

with your silly games and your even sillier dreams of becoming an artist”. That line stuck

with me even more than his degrading comments on my nomadic lifestyle and inability to

keep steady employment.

You would think that his words discouraged me but instead I spent the rest of the day

staring out at the sea and found new inspiration. I came home and painted. I painted how his

letter made me feel. I must admit it took a lot out of me to not tear the canvas from the easel

and set it ablaze half-way through painting but I succeeded. In the end I was left with a

depiction of a small lark with its wings pinned to its sides trapped in a wrought iron cage that

was placed facing a large open window. You could feel the irony ooze off the paint and fill

the small room I repurposed into my studio. I wanted him to see that he was cruel as whoever

encased and taunted the lark with its desires just out of grasp.

September 2, 1947

Dear Diary,

I decided against sending my painting to William. I decided to not send him anymore

letters or painting again. I don’t think he has noticed because he still sends me mail. He

seems to grow more hysterical the more letters of his that I’ve read in recent times. The only

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thing that seemed to change is that he started leaving me tokens in each envelope he posts.

They started off as small sketches of myself on crumpled coffee stained paper along with

poems in French detailing his love for me as well as begging me for forgiveness. However as

time went by he started mailing large abstract portraits of him and I as infamous lovers in

history. In the last painting he sent, we were Helen and Menelaus. William was able to make

himself look even cockier and more possessive than his letters did and every time I saw it

gathering dust I felt like nothing more than an object.

I was lost in my own mind that during my errands last Saturday I walked right into the

back of my priest. His soft plain language so heavily contrasted the harsh intricate language

William used in his letters it momentarily stunned me. We walked in step with each other and

his presence was sobering. The unobtrusive small talk about everything and nothing left a

pleasant hum in my thoughts as I travelled home. It was as I stepped over the threshold of my

door that I was once again plagued with the soulless feeling William inspired within me. I

would be lying if I said his delusions did not fuel my art. But this time when I came to after

painting I saw a canvas with myself as a martyr, William as a Roman soldier and my priest

embracing me. Itched into the bottom were the words omnia vincit amor; love conquered all.

October 21, 1947

Dear Diary,

I sent the painting to William and he came to see me. His fancy words, teary voice

and shaky hands made me sick to my stomach. He kept saying “Mi a beg yuh please nuh do

mi dis” over and over again whilst being unable to look me in the eyes out of shame. I turned

my back to him so he knew I was over him and whatever he had to say. I took it a step further

and exited my small flat to see if he understood the message. He did not. He followed me in

the streets and on to the seaside where I read his letter in August.

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 The same sailors and their obscene language peppered the shoreline. This time their

words weren’t the one that caused my cheeks to be red but the desperation that William

reeked of. His stuttering words and his lack of eye contact made his words fly over my head

and into the sea breeze around us. I clenched my fists and stared out into the water. Once

again my mind ran wild and I dreamt of painting once again. I came home and painted. On

the canvas I saw a wolf with the head of a lamb cowering before a small lamb with the head

of a wolf. William stared at it and cried.

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 Analysis

‘The Language of Paint’ focussed on the artistic progression of a young girl in

relation to her environment. This piece featured significant occurrences of dialectic variation

and communicative behaviours. They worked conjointly to accurately portray the intimate

mind of an artist to engage and appeal to the audience.

The journal entries featured artefacts and kinesics. The standout feature of this piece

is the use of art to present ideas to both the audience and other characters. This

communication is done through the use of widely acknowledged symbols such as ‘a caged

bird with pinned wings’ and the ironic use of ‘wolves and sheep’. The effect this had was that

it showed the various ways in which a message could be communicated. Kinesics also

played a key role. By ‘avoiding eye contact’ and having ‘shaky hands’, it effectively

communicated the anxious attitude of William towards Eliza. This aided in the

characterisation of his defeat as an egotistical character alongside peaking the interest of the

audience. In these ways, one can acknowledge the effectiveness of artefacts and kinesics in

enhancing this piece.

Dialectic Variation played a significant role in these journal entries. The shift in

William’s character was heavily supported by the shift in his dialect. Initially, he spoke in the

acrolect “I’m sorry Eliza” which transitioned into the basilect “Mi a beg yuh” as he became

more frustrated. The William that used acrolect when writing haughty letters to Eliza was

diminished to his base dialect (Creole) upon strong rejection. This code-switching was

chosen as it heavily resonates with the Caribbean audience who are familiar with dialectic

variations being triggered by strong emotions

The use of Latin “omnia vincit amor” by Eliza also served as a form of dialectic

variation and its main function was to aid in her communication through art.

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 In conclusion, it is easy to identify in the journal entries of “Language of Paint” the

importance of communicative behaviours and dialect variation. They play a significant role in

understanding and appreciating the context of the diary entries. Additionally, they work

together at crafting a realistic and relatable piece.

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 References

Bridges, Benjamin. “Miscommunication.” Garageland Reviews, 24 Feb. 2014,

garagelandmagazine.blogspot.com/2014/10/miscommunication.html?m=1.

Neogy, Prithwish. “Rabindranath Tagore on Art and Aesthetics : A Selection of Lectures,

Essays and Letters.” Internet Archive, Inter-National Cultural Centre, 1 Jan. 1961,

archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.38423/page/n89/mode/1up.

Ragans, Rosalind. “Art in Your World, The Language of Art.” Art Talk, Art Source, pp. 16–
19.

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