My Gurus – Melanie Keen

Sonia Boyce

I was a student at East Ham College of Technology in the mid-1980s doing an art foundation course when Sonia Boyce was invited, as an alumnus, to talk to us about life after art school. I identified strongly with her and her work. Like me she was an east end kid of Afro-Caribbean parentage, grappling with what was then described as the duality of identity.

Sonia provided me with the guidance and support to develop my portfolio to apply for a fine art degree. I feel incredibly fortunate that our paths have continued to cross. We are currently working together on a project led by her and a team of scholars called Black Artists and Modernism (BAM). It will have many outcomes in the next two years; the major one this year is an international conference at Tate Britain and accompanying display at Chelsea College of Art in October.