“He Art-i-facts”

The exhibition, HeArT-i-facts, explores the theme of the Past is Always Present and features two ongoing series: House of Dreams and Transfer. These series have been a part of my work for many years and delve into migration, identity, and the colonial period in the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean. The Transfer Project, initiated in 2001 with collaborators Edgar Endress and Lori Lee, utilizes archived materials to connect the past to the present through images and stories…

We in the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean have a unique vantage point as the nature of slavery, sugar production and colonial life has never really been hidden...always, “hidden in plain sight.” In Teju Cole’s new book of essays, Known and Strange Things, he writes about visiting Alabama, the south, that James Baldwin references, and says, “ Long after history’s active moment, do places retain some charge of what they witnessed, what they endured?” As he walks the streets of Selma….that past comes into full view... “history”, Cole writes, “won’t let go of us. We’re pinned to it.” Our architecture, geography, pastoral life style and remove from the power centers that govern us make us independent and dependent at the same time. We are left to our own devices on these small dots in the sea but we have no status - in political terms, we don’t exist. We aren’t really US and we are not island/nations.

The intention of this exhibition is to explore these questions and connect the past to the future through subjective and personal perspectives. The presented work aims to challenge perceptions and investigate cultural and personal connections to the past. The transferred photographs on wood from the Transfer Project depict a diorama created for the 75th anniversary of Transfer in 1992. The House of Dreams series showcases archive and original photographs transferred to found objects, representing the post-colonial period. These photographs capture the disappearing vernacular houses that held the dreams and memories of those who persevered in the face of neglect.

The third series, Summer Solstice, features transferred images of young Virgin Islanders interacting in the natural landscape, showcasing a different side of paradise beyond the commercialized postcard imagery. It portrays the daily lives of those who inherit this land and must create a future for themselves amidst the challenges of living in a place often seen as a vacation destination.