Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

The Crownsland collection is the latest creative endeavour of artisan Ozy Merrique. The exhibition runs from May 30 to June 6 at Grundlos Kollektiv, 11 Cipriani Boulevard, Port-of-Spain.

Merrique has been immersed in the creative arts for many years, moving between music, poetry, writing and art. He said his work is strongly individualistic, and “his paintings depict scenes both alien and familiar in nature, with figures both distinct and blended seamlessly into a form of purposeful abstractionism. They carry an almost ethereal energy that compels the viewer to explore the undiscovered reaches of their own mind, and perhaps to peer into mine. It is this energy which served as the inspiration for my latest work, Crownsland.”

Through his work, he interrogates how these energies or vibrations interact with the human psyche, and how they affect our moods, actions, personalities, and spiritualities.

“As musician, poet, thinker painter, human, I am deeply interested and involved in African Sacred Science, especially the phenomena of manifestation, the dance of the Gods.. Through this exploration I’ve sought to understand how these and other vibrations affect both this world and the plane beyond it, and Crownsland is perhaps a way to confront them, engage them, guide them and integrate them into the pieces I created. I know how frequencies of riddim, voice and movement would vibrate gods into being on this plane, so I wondered how our modern world with its electric light, concrete and asphalt, cellphones and satellites affect how we interact with spirit and how spirit interacts with us.”

Crownsland also investigates relationships, particularly how we relate to our history, our space and others who inhabit it. “What does this mean for the future in a post-plantation place? The main questions I am asking in the work deal with location, belonging, legacies and ownership. What made Mother Earth leave town and walk naked in the Toco bush? What was gained and lost and stolen? This is the journey as I understand it so far. These are the works which have so far emerged.”

Merrique works primarily with acrylics on canvas and board, but wants to experiment with oils and watercolours in the future, as well as using music, poetry and film in forthcoming works to continue his exploration of these underlying anxieties of our world. He said growing up, he was always surrounded by creativity. “Just growing up in Sangre Grande was being surrounded with so much intensity and beauty and stories and I always had a passion for reading too, so when you read you get pictures in your head and then I realized maybe I could do this, maybe I could use words to make sense of my reality and also to create stories. In school I was encouraged to write and it just evolved like that. I’m inspired by life, I’m inspired by anything that occurs around me, things that I create myself, things that happen to me, things that I observe, sometimes it’s just about a beautiful moment, sometimes it’s about me trying to make a particular type of statement through the work. I can’t really say that every day is inspiring but I can’t really say either that I’ve lost any sense of how important the work is as well, sometimes it’s not even about passion, sometimes it’s just about getting the work done and so I’ll continue to do it to the best of my ability as long as I’m here.”

Merrique said he isn’t looking for a particular reaction to his work. “I think art has the power to make people feel a certain type of way,  even if it’s sometimes discomfort. I think if people love and respect the effort that goes into the work, and could recognise sincerity in the work, then that’s pretty much all I could ask for. It really comes down to the relationship that develops between the observer and the piece. I have seen people look at pieces and they will tell you that that piece touched them, and that kind of power is what would be worthwhile to me. The pieces are for sale and hopefully the prices will allow true art lovers to be able to take it home and hold it for the rest of their lives and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.”

Crownsland opens on May 30th at Grundlos Kollektiv, 11 Cipriani Blvd. POS. at 5:30 pm and runs to June 6th. For more information and to RSVP, call 764 2983.