Untitled 3 and 4 are Daisy Gould’s contributions to the 2024 Bermuda Biennial. Remarkably, she does not consider herself an artist. The two Polaroid emulsions on watercolours on show are part of an ongoing research project by the curator, writer and consultant whose work in London, England, focuses on Caribbean art and theory and contemporary Bermudian art.

Q: What is Polaroid emulsion on watercolour? If you would explain the process please

A: Polaroid emulsion transfer involves moving the part of the film that “holds” the image on to watercolour paper using a hot, then cold, water bath. It’s an extremely delicate and patience-demanding process that is in complete opposition to the ease and speed with which photographic images are first taken. What I especially like about the process is how the flatness of the original Polaroid image is given texture when applied to the heavily grained paper.

Q: Were the two pieces part of a bigger series? If so, how many in total?

A: These works are a creative or practice-based branch of my academic and curatorial research and, as such, I’ve made quite a lot of them. Of this particular series, made from images taken ten years ago or more, there are six, but I have upwards of 30 works currently and am working on a separate grouping now based on a new thread of academic inquiry. While I’m not an artist, I do believe creativity is a legitimate form of knowledge production and in this case, it helps me work through big ideas and theories I’m pursuing in my writing and research. It’s just another form of accessing information.

Q: Why did you decide not to name them?

A: Good question! I think as I don’t really identify as an artist and they’re part of an ongoing research project, I didn’t feel the need to name them individually. I know titles come very easily to some and are overwhelming or restricting for others.

Q: Why did you decide to submit them to the Biennial this year?

A: The Polaroids themselves sat in a box for most of a decade. The film was damaged from going through TSA scanners and I’m not entirely sure why I decided to keep them – but am glad I did. I’ve never shown any work before outside of a school exhibition many years ago during my BA, let alone in the Biennial.

I made these particular works in late 2023 and early 2024 while I was completing my master’s in contemporary art theory. My area of research is in contemporary Caribbean art, with a specific focus on Bermudian art, and my master’s dissertation explored the spatial politics of arts institutions on the island and the importance of biennials in places like Bermuda. I was writing about Bermuda National Gallery and the Biennial format already so, in that way, to have two of the works in the 2024 Biennial feels like a full-circle moment.

Q: What does your job at Serpentine Gallery entail?

A: I am currently assistant curator of Live Programmes at Serpentine where I also work on the ecologies thread of programming. I work closely with artists to develop commissions, exhibitions, performances and public programmes such as talks, but I also do a lot of research and writing as part of my work.

Prior to that, I worked in the curatorial departments of Tate and Hayward Gallery and I’m very lucky to be at a point in my professional career where my independent research interests are starting to intersect more with my institutional work. I also work as an independent curator, arts consultant and writer and hope to do lots more work at home and with local artists in the near future.

Q: What led to your interest in Caribbean/Bermudian art? Is that interest ever reflected in your work?

A: These works are deeply informed by the work of Caribbean theorists and writers such as Édouard Glissant, Rex Nettleford and Michelle Cliff, just to name a few. Glissant’s writing is of particular importance in my research and I was thinking a lot about Glissant’s work when creating these works. Being from Martinique, he wrote about how the French word for “to understand”, comprendre, can also be translated as “to seize” and the violence implicated in that. These works consider that idea through the point of view of photography and how we talk about “capturing” an image. The camera is an apparatus of power in what the photographer decides to include in the frame, and what is left out, just like the selective telling of history. I’m very interested in the stories we’ve kept in Bermuda and which stories have been silenced throughout our history and collective memory.

As a Bermudian, I’ve always been interested in Bermudian art but my master’s is really what sparked my interest to pursue contemporary Caribbean art and theory as an area of expertise. As a curator, it’s shocking to me that Bermudian art isn’t more prevalent in the history of art, contemporary or otherwise, and I really want to help change that. We have so many incredible artists, they should be in major collections all over the world. I’ve said it countless times before but the best way to support local artists is to buy their work!

Q: Any great teachers/mentors that inspired you?

A: I’ve always loved art and am lucky to have had not only supportive teachers but an incredibly supportive family, who have always encouraged creativity and my pursuit of a career in the arts. For my BA, I majored in history of art with a minor in studio art but even earlier than that I was very artistically inclined. I have to shout out Judith Doyle, who was my Primary 2 teacher at BHS. My earliest memory of being exposed to art, specifically the work of Henri Matisse, was through her!

Q: Have you shown your work elsewhere?

A: Never.

Q: Is photography always part of your work?

A: At present, yes. As my research develops, who knows what creative outlet I’ll explore. For me it’s not so much about the medium as it is the message.

• Thirty-two works by 25 artists are on display as part of the 2024 Bermuda Biennial at the Bermuda National Gallery until January. For more information, visit bng.bm/exhibition/2024bermudabiennial/