Fourteen years ago, Carlos Dowling’s statue of Sally Bassett ignited a storm of controversy when it was erected on the grounds of Cabinet.

The statue depicted the slave “pregnant with the spirit of freedom” as she was burnt at the stake in 1730 for allegedly attempting to poison her master, his wife and another slave.

“I was getting a lot of negativity when I would go out,” Mr Dowling said. “People would confront me as to why I did it and how I did it. It was a story that people did not want to hear at that time. People said she was a terrorist.”

All of his art contracts dried up, and he moved to Roanoke, Virginia, to continue making a living.

This month, for the first time in more than a decade, he was back on the island with more statues in hand.

The 74-year-old is trying to find sponsors for two life-size statues of Gombeys he would like to erect on the island.

He is quick to say they are meant to be non-confrontational.

“Sally Bassett was a sad story,” he said. “These are different because the Gombeys are more happy.”

He started making mock-ups of Gombey statues as a way to reconnect with his boyhood.

“I was afraid of the Gombeys when I was really little,” he said. “But when I got older and understood what it was all about, I used to follow them to the point of exhaustion, like other Bermudian children.”

He thought Bermuda’s tourists needed more opportunities to see Gombeys because “they are such a part of our culture”.

“If they don’t go to Harbour Nights in Hamilton on Wednesday evenings, there is nowhere that they can see the Gombeys,” he said.

His fear is that the tradition may die.

“That has been happening with the Bermuda kite,” Mr Dowling said. “The Gombey is such a unique piece of art in itself; the costume is ours. The Gombey is a terrific example of our creativity as Bermudians.”

His idea is to make a Gombey using bonded bronze — a mixture of epoxy resins and bronze powder. The cost, he estimates, would be about $2,500. A colour version would cost $3,000. One made from real bronze would cost $25,000.

Where the statue would be erected he has no clue.

“That has nothing to do with me,” he said. “I learnt that from doing the Sally Bassett statue. I would have no say in that. I am just an artist who wants to create.”

Since moving to Roanoke, Mr Dowling has felt more appreciated as an artist. He teaches pottery and sculpture at Earthworks Sculpture & Pottery in Vinton, a suburb of the city.

“I am part of a pottery guild with over 100 potters,” he said. “I am the only Black potter. They give awards every year and I have won first place twice, second once and third once. I have been very well respected out here.”

He has also done commissions for the Norfolk University alumni association and the New York headquarters of the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

His advice to emerging young artists: “If you’re passionate about your art, just keep plugging away at it.”

“Every artist’s journey is different,” Mr Dowling said. “You just have to decide how much you are going to put into your art and how much you are going to sacrifice.”

He got his start at 13 when Canadian sculptor Byllee Lang took him on as her assistant.

In 1958 she was commissioned to work on the ornamental screens featuring statues of Christ and 14 saints that covered the back of the altars at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity.

“I was her protégé until she died when I was 18 in 1966,” Mr Dowling said. “I was in her studio every day. Bermuda was segregated at the time, but she was very liberal. People of all persuasions would come to her studio.”

He was so sheltered by Ms Lang that when the Black Power movement emerged in Bermuda, he did not understand it.

“It was not until she passed and I went into business for myself that I realised what the real world was like,” he said.

At the Bermuda Pottery he worked his way up to manager. He then started his own pottery and ceramics business on King Street, which later moved to Devil’s Hole in Smith’s.

Over the years his art career had its ups and downs.

“Someone promised to put me on their bus tour if I moved to Winter Haven in Smith’s so I did,” he said. “They did not include me on their bus tour. I had to close the business.”

He lived in the United States with his late American wife, Jackie, off and on for many years.

“My wife died just before last Christmas,” Mr Dowling said. “We met on the beach at Shelly Bay. Before she died she said she wanted some of her ashes scattered there.”

• Reach Carlos Dowling through his agent, Barbara Dillas, on 534-5531 or e-mail dillasbarbara2@gmail.com