It’s fair to say I love spots.
The influence of Lichenstein’s pop art ‘dots’ from the 1960s and Hirst’s ‘spot art’ of the 1990s has long appeared in my paintings, emerging in several pieces of work within my 2004 London exhibition. That all feels so long ago now.
My first solo exhibition in the Mall Galleries, London, in April 2004 was an incredible high point in my life, although it was quickly overshadowed by the discovery, just days later, that I was pregnant with my daughter. The same year, I moved house. Twice. Then moved country, to the Cayman Islands. In September 2004, Category 5 Hurricane Ivan’s wind and storm surge caused widespread damage across Cayman. Then on December 26th I gave birth at home, meanwhile an undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 9.3 struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The resulting tsunami triggered by the quake reached out across the Indian Ocean, devastating coastal areas as far away as East Africa. Some locations reported that the waves had reached a height of 30 feet (9 metres) or more when they hit the shoreline. The world watched in shock as the casualty count came in. The tsunami and its aftermath were responsible for immense destruction; 227,898 souls were lost while I was cradling precious new life in my arms. It was overwhelming, I still don’t know how to find the right words to describe the enormity of what unfolded that day.
I digress. Back to dots. Or spots.
The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands is currently exhibiting the cheerfully title show “Pop and the Popular.” How could I not want to get involved? Although the piece exhibited is another entirely, I have simultaneously created ‘Brand Cayman’, a comment on the vulnerable brand of the Cayman Islands. The deconstruction of colour so that it may be isolated from competing elements within an image allows the colour to tell its own story. In Brand Cayman the sequence of three panels encourages the viewer to contemplate the elements that Cayman’s tourism brand heavily relies upon: blue skies, turquoise seas and pale sand. The combination of the myriad of colours within such a visual is a highly desirable and marketable luxury experience, which Cayman, perhaps, takes for granted. The deconstruction of these elements into simply the spots of colour – combining mixed acrylic paint with Caribbean Sea and Cayman sand (yes, really) – provides an alternate look at the ‘paradise’ visual. With pollution, rising sea levels, and destruction of reefs as ongoing concerns in Cayman, I encourage the viewer to consider What is our product, and are we doing enough to protect it?
Title: Brand Cayman
Date: August 2022
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, with Caribbean Sea and Cayman sand
Size: Triptych, three panels each 24” x 72”