I went on a cruise with my family for 10 days last week and we traveled to Cozumel, Costa Rica, and Panama. It was actually my 7th cruise and I was not expecting much although I'd never been to Costa Rica or Cozumel. Not only did I end up having a great time, but I felt inspired like I never have before. I was most excited to see Panama... we were docking in Colon which is where my grandmother was born and raised... but I ended up feeling a heavy connection to Costa Rica. The people, the landscape, the culture (but mostly the people) came together in a surreal way. My mom and I were walking through the streets of Puerto Limon talking about Caribbean culture (I know, I'm a geek) when we came across a street artist painting on feathers. I thought, oh my God how cool! Before I knew it, I was sitting there asking him questions left and right about feather artwork. He told me that it's very common amongst Caribbean street painters and now it's a big sell to tourists. They'll paint local birds and wildlife, which is very kitch. But I plan on taking the Caribbean concept of feathers as a canvas and applying it to my own concept of exploring my Caribbean roots and identifying myself as a semi-Caribbean artist. Panama only reaffirmed my excitement when I encountered more feather art and more amazing people (despite Colon's enormous drug problem). During our time there I felt a connection to my grandmother, who was born in Colon and lived there until she was 15. In 1975 my grandmother returned to Colon and was heartbroken by the change. Being so close to Columbia causes drugs to literally wash up on Colon's shores, making it a drug capital in Central America. I felt my grandmother's pain as we drove around and saw streets guarded by police with machine guns next to streets where children played. The effects of drugs damaged the integrity of my grandmother's heritage.
This woman is actually from Alaska. But the artists I experience in Costa Rica and Panama don't exactly have open computer access, let alone the ability to upload their artwork to a website. I think she's a great example of kitch art and she's exactly what I plan to avoid. My work will be big and bright and vibrant and hold the integrity of the feather.
