Page 19 - Fiji Traveller 2023 Issue 5

Her landscapes include local scenes, such as Suva At one time, Ricketts’ paintings adorned many Fijian
cottages, water lilies and the tree-lined road that leads homes as they featured on calendars widely distributed
into Lautoka—Ricketts relates the story of a friend who by a local brewer. Paintings recently displayed at
threatened to tie herself to one of those trees when the Oceania Centre were largely drawn from private
it was suggested they be cut down. She also paints collections, a big task that involved shipping work from
scenes of Indo-Fijian life, which she felt were under as far as Scandinavia.
represented in local art when she was first starting out, For this reason, Ricketts says it is a once in a lifetime
as well as a cross section of Fijian society, including exhibition.
powerful Fijian women. “I think it’s the fact that the paintings are owned
A painting of her best friend Sue Halapua, one of by different people,” she says. “Some of them live in
the first women to be ordained as a deacon into the countries like my daughter in Norway and my brother in
Anglican Church in Fiji, is amongst her favourites. New Zealand. It’s not easy to get the works together so
“I guess I like it, partly because I think it's not a bad it’s not going to happen again.”
likeness of what Sue was like then, and I feel that the Ricketts is self-effacing: “I consider myself a teacher
pillar represents the oppressive structure of the church, with art as a hobby”, while acknowledging that seeing all
and the [sense of] loneliness.” her paintings together gave her great joy.
Until recently, Ricketts volunteered as an arts teacher The Director of the Oceania Centre, Larry Thomas,
for the Fiji Corrections Service. Brought on in the early says in staging the exhibition of Ricketts’ work, he
days of the Yellow Ribbon campaign, what was initially a wanted to recognise a female artist who has chronicled
two-week appointment turned into well over a decade of some of Fiji’s most important historical moments.
volunteer service. “Jane Ricketts in my view is an important artist in Fiji.
“I enjoyed their company,” Ricketts says of the inmates We have many young artists, contemporary artists. We
she worked with. “I think they blossomed because they don’t have a lot of artists like Jane whose focus is on
had this talent that hadn’t been recognised before.” realism.”

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