“Nature does not conform to one shape, neither should art”
RAINMAKER
In Rainmaker we see more pronounced influences of the Taino culture—the petroglyph writings that mark the pre-Columbian expression before Columbus’ Conquest and executed with vivid coloration. Paintings such as these allude to the Caribbean’s historical past in archaeological terms and also demonstrate the artist’s interest in conveying a sense of the region’s ancestral legacy.
Size: H: 58 cm x W: 126 cm ◊ H: 23” x W: 50”
CARIBBEAN FORM STUDIO II
Eight combined triangles form the artist’s anchor shape prototype. Here it is used to blur the categories between sculpture and painting. Paintings such as this one were virtual forerunners to 11 thematic works exhibited in 1996 at the Biennale de Sao Paulo, Brazil where interactive works were created to experience the sense of touch, smell, hearing etc. An artist’s catalogue from the Biennale Sao Paulo exhibition is made available in the exhibit for viewer reference at the information table. Artist’s works such as Picasso, Goya, Munch, Klee, and Warhol etc. were some of the major presentations participating in this 1996 Biennale where Roy Lawaetz introduced his own Modular Triangular System from the Caribbean as an innovative approach to painting on canvas.
Size: H: 125 cm x W: 195 cm ◊ H: 50 ” x W: 78”
NIGHT VISION (2006)
A fallen soldier dominates the lower portion of this “Stealth Shape” Modular Triangular System” painting. Notice how the soldier’s figure rhymes with the corrugated rhythm of the support. His body is being carried from the battlefield by a Cowboy figure suggesting the current President of the United States George W. Bush. Zemi stones in the Pre-Columbian culture were often used as spiritual and power objects. The Cowboy hat is eagle like but also intentionally evokes a zemi. Do you think the zemi was a power object or just Pre-Columbian superstition?
Size: H: 83 cm x W: 130 cm ◊ H: 33 ” x W: 52”
AGE OF WOMAN
The artist deals with yet another female motif in quite contrasting terms. Here the motif is displayed on the artist’s Capsule Shape which is actually an inverted Victory Shape. The curves of the female form accentuate the curvature of the globe motif and dramatically counterpoint the sharp angularity of the triangular format.
Size: H: 150 cm x W: 160 cm ◊ H: 60” x W: 64”
ALLURE OF PATRIOTISM
(2004) In a starker theme such as the “Allure of Patriotism” which alludes to the Iraq War there is a conscious effort to satirize. The blindfolded female figure poses on the configuration of a stealth shape, not a conventional rectangle. Images of oil rigs intersperse in the landscape and the American flag appears somewhat stained in the battlefield. In this shape/image logic, a device of the artist’s own making he is able to penetrate to the essence of the matter understanding that shape by itself is a powerful gestalt perception. Is patriotism always a good thing? Can war sometimes lead to even more chaos? What do you think?
BULL 98 — 2008)
This painting represents the artist’s concept of symbolic compression, assimilating different symbols into a completed unit. Within the general head of the bull other images interact such as a baseball cap, vehicle, sugar mill, Viking horns etc. all experience symbols attributed to the rich life of his late Uncle Frits Lawaetz, “The Bull of Annaly” who died at the age of 98 and was known by many Virgin Islanders. The Caribbean’s Taino Indians often carved zemi stones in memory of deceased ancestors and here the artist’s uses his own Art of Cultural Re-affirmation in referential fashion.
Size: H: 63 cm x W: 58 cm ◊ H: 25” x W: 23”
BOTANICA
Six triangles combine to form the artist’s X shape. A closely kit tapestry of abstract and petroglyph forms interact in an eclectic composition to symbolize an energetic display of organic growth that is unrestricted in its expansive configuration. This work displays the dynamic principles of non-quadrilateral space whereby innate angularity has its own dimension.
Size: H: 96 cm x W: 89 cm ◊ H: 38” x W: 36”
CARNIVAL MORNING
In this work the artist is inspired by the pre-Columbian petroglyphs of the Caribbean and the prevailing Caribbean’s carnival spirit. Here he tries to blend the two associations. The black figure against the yellow ground is expressed in cryptic terms much like this type of pre-historic writing. Swirling and rhythmic shapes echo the figure, adding a musical quality to the overall composition. This is just one of the more than 100 proto-type shapes the artist has created for painting that is not rectangular in shape.
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 138 cm ◊ H: 50 ” x W: 55”
CUBE MUSIC
Forms inside a cube they stay. As if by music somewhat played. Perhaps two figures somehow entwined. Or relationships between some lines. Pictorial or suggestive they live. Inside this cube music that gives. Abstracted rhythms of color. Spatial dimensions that flower. Never showing any signs of panic. Basic geometry with some organic. And if I never mastered geometry in school. I bring it back now with some different rules.
Size: H: 116 cm x W: 126 cm ◊ H: 46” x W: 50”
CRUCIFIXION ICON
Crucifixion Icon takes the subject of Christ and the Cross and treats it with innovative and symbolic expression to create an iconic image with only triangles in combination.
The upper portion of the configuration is exaggerated outwards compared to the remainder of the work. This serves to dramatize the outstretched arms of Christ nailed to the cross. But the arms do not just represent just the human flesh they also make references to loaves of bread and the celebration of the host.
In the central portion of the work we observe a gigantic chalice, positioned just below, to complete the narration of the Church’s ritual of wine. Intertwined are other symbolic references of the Christian faith, the heart, and fish which overlap into the overall imagery.
The tall shape of the work itself addresses the cross more directly and the mood of the Crucifixion is more celebretive than tragic. The artist’s choice of colors filled with a dominant yellow not only celebrate the Crucifixion but also the resurrection that is to follow in Christ’s journey on earth and then his ultimate return to heaven.
Size: H: 200 cm x W: 138 cm ◊ H: 80 ” x W: 55”
DON’T STOP THE CARNIVAL
A whimsical interactive piece based on the revelry of the island’s Moko Jumbie stilt dancers. The artist creates the fun-filled effect with a flowing rum bottle up above on his Hourglass Shape. Time is not of the essence however, but rather an intense carnival spirit that is featured here in colorful display. Interactive pieces like these were first created by the artist for the 1996 International Biennale de Sao Paulo where the artist’s works were also featured on the exhibition program together with 135 world renowned artists like Picasso, Goya, Klee, Munch, Warhol, Bourgeois, Basquiat, etc.
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 138 cm ◊ H: 50 ” x W: 55”
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Executed on six triangles this exhibited work falls in the artist’s sculpainting category. The support’s ability to project beyond two dimensional status brings an exciting new range of possibilities for painting. The conventional flat surface that is relatively static is totally abandoned for a more actively charged space. Note how the geometric triangles strangely assume an organic-like formation like an exotic orchid or rare flower in directional thrust. Connected parts in this work also have flexible characteristics and can be readily adjustable to suit the viewer’s taste— more daring or more conservative. Do you believe in freedom of expression or should there be some exceptions? And what are they?
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 134 cm ◊ H: 50 ” x W: 54”
HATCHET OF MEMORY
This work comes closest to the ideal form of the Zemi artefact. In this work the artist integrates elements of petroglyph inscriptions into the overall expression. These elements swirl and activate into the space as reoccurring cultural ghosts of a lost era destroyed by Columbus’ Conquest. Originally inscribed on stone the artist transfers their images to the canvas with an original palette.
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 134 cm ◊ H: 50 ” x W: 54”
FIGURE IN THE HURRICANE
The word hurricane derives from the Taino Indian “Great Wind” or hurricane. Here the artist uses his spiral shape to present a fragmented presentation of this climatic phenomenon that existed before Columbus and the Conquest and which still affects the world annually. The symbolic figure is caught within the dynamic vortex which spirals outwardly thus capturing a sense of displacement and change when climatic forces intervene.
Size: H: 50 cm x W: 50 cm ◊ H: 20 ” x W: 20”
EXOTIC FLOWER (2008)
The spiral shape integrates tri-dimensionality with void and fullness intervals. The tri-dimensional construction spirals outward towards the viewer thus blurring the categories between painting and sculpture. Flat space becomes organic and life affirming. This work is an excellent example of the artist’s early childhood influences such as the St. Croix Rain Forest where he lived at Estate Little La Grange, today the site of the Lawaetz Family Museum.
Size: H: 70 cm x W: 70 cm ◊ H: 28 ” x W: 28”
NUDE WITH BIBLE 2 (2009)
employs just three triangles to adaptable space for the figure which moves forward in dimension, outward from the wall like an object in motion. The golden bible under the nude’s arm is the only visible reminder of a rectangle in this combination and indeed a powerful one. The spatial components move forward towards the viewer in a sculptural mode. This tightly-knit composition eliminates excessive background, adheres closely the theoretical foundations of the artist’s Modular Triangular System. Here the artist illustrates how triangles in combination can create exciting and novel compositions such as this one that departs from the standard rectangle and it takes only three triangles to make the point.
Size: H: 92 cm x W: 60 cm ◊ H: 37” x W: 24”
FEEDING THE LOVEBIRD
This is a whimsical and imaginative piece by the artist to comment and convey on the demands of physical love which exists in an insatiable-like role. The bird’s eagerness to be fed is symbolically human as a need to be fulfilled in life. Note how the head of the figure is detached for extra ironic subtlety in this pictorial configuration of unique originality that blurs the definition of sculpture and painting to a heightened degree so that two disciplines merge. The fragmentary elements offer additional reference to cultural heritage artefacts that become displaced through time and wear just as our human bodies eventually. Today’s Modular Triangular System (MTS) painting.
Size: H: 110 cm x W: 42 cm ◊ H: 44 ” x W: 17”
DAYDREAM OF A BANANA REPUBLIC
A bird’s open wings are set to fly
And banana plantains are there to fry
A maiden stands in nature’s guise
Her gaze held downward with her eyes
Not always forward into time
But sometimes with reverses so sublime
So that chapters of my spent energies
Are the most harmonious memories
A wasteland’s dream with connected images
That flash before the adult vestiges
Can spark juxtaposed messages
That reveal the hidden truth of ages
Life in its vibrant studied pages
No match for the wisdom of the sages
They too played out their verbal canvasses
As if their shaped words were advantages
And now this canvass beholds the viewer
In enigmatic form that looks much newer
Escaping the limitations of the rectangle
The poetic dream is captured from this angle
Size: H: 170 cm x W: 100 cm ◊ H: 68” x W: 40
THE HOURGLASS OF CULTURE
The artist’s Hourglass Shape is utilized here effectively to emphasize the height and agility of Moko Jumbie dancers. Note how he uses the canvas’ own edge to accentuate the twisting form of the two dancers. And in the central area of the work the archway also serves concurrently as a carnival mask-like motif as well as a limb moving forward towards the viewer thus adding a sense of heightened action. The work alludes to time’s passing over the centuries, from early pre-Columbian days and up to present day with reveling Moko Jumbies who dance in the streets. The dominant mask motif holds the imagery together in a central focus. Below a zemi form with petroglyphs echo the figures seen through an archway. A faint glimpse of a town rests in a basket-type vessel as if in a dream sequence. He first exhibited this prototype shape in Paris’s Grand Palais with the painting “White Baby.”
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 138 cm ◊ H: 50” x W: 55”
AQUARIUM 2
This work is a deep dive into the possibilities of the Modular Triangular System. It features a diver image with actual fins, mask, as if in an aquatic space possessed by Caribbean coral sand. An aquarium is also attached with live fish swimming to heighten the actuality of the “senses.” This was the artistic thematic of the 1996 Biennale de Sao Paulo Brazil. The artist thus created dramatically to the thematic challenge with interactive works like this one causing the Brazilian critic, Ivor Zanini in Jornal da Critica (Dec 1996) to count him among the few moderns who did not replicate at the 1996 International Sao Paulo Biennale and who contributed to art’s rejuvenation “ with a fresh vision.”
( Medium: Painting with Aquarium. Two gallon tank with air pump, light, fish. Acrylic, canvas, wood, sand, fins. )
SIZE: H: 195cm x W: 125cm x D: 35cm 6’6’’ x 4’2’’ x1”
BOEDKERPIGEN (Rum barrel girl)
Rum had been a traditional product of the island’s sugar cane harvests on St. Croix, USV for centuries. The artist’s early background days were filled with long walks through sugar cane fields after his kindergarten hours. Rum barrels were rolled onto ships in the town’s harbor. In 2013 he inspired some of his rum barrel inspired works were exhibited at Gallery Boedkergaard, Koege, Denmark. The art gallery’s building had been a workshop for building barrels many years ago, a sheer coincidence of past and present. The word Boedker means a man who makes barrels in Danish.
Size: H: 195 cm x W: 125 cm D: 0.35 cm H: 6’6” x W: 4’2” D: 1”
NATIVITY
The birth of Christ story chronicled in the Bible is presented here in four connected triangles to form a larger one. In a resonating space of Trinity connective fable the Christ child sits on a fish shaped cradle between the Virgin Mary and the Three Kings. A celestially delivered Bible showers down from the heavens in a connective thread of symbolism. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost belief is the expressive underlying thematic.
SIZE: H: 126 cm X W: 134 cm H: 50.4” X W: 53.6”
DRAMATICO
Dramatico is an activated new prototype (WAVE SHAPE) crafted out of six triangles in combination with merging synchronicity. The triangles have the unique ability to be calibrated and extend outwardly from the exhibition wall; poised to dominate space in the virtual sense that they do not remain subservient to a flat plane existence paralleling the wall. These angularities thus establish an internal rhythm that is specific to the canvas presentation.
SPIRIT STONE
Spirit Stone. With direct allusion to the spiritual connection of the Taino Indian legacy this four piece triangular work echoes archaeological references. The shape of the Zemi (cemi) stone which was venerated by the Caribbean’s early inhabitants is closely approximated in geometric vernacular.
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 134 cm ◊ H: 50” x W: 54”
MEMORY
Blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture. The twisting characterization of the triangles in combination performs radically different to a flat planed canvas format. There is also a degree of flexibility that is inherent—the ability to exaggerate or reduce the expression desired. Works such as these radically depart from traditional viewpoints of canvas formatting and point to new and exploratory directions for the 21st Century.
Size: H: 45 cm x W: 48 cm ◊ H: 18 ” x W: 19”
PRIMORDIAL IMAGES
This work refers to the early Pre-Columbian inpulses of the Caribbean. With intense coloration on a torso shape variatives of petroglyph signs dominate the imagery.
Size: H: 89 cm x W: 96 cm ◊ H: 36” x W: 38”
PRAYING NUN
Educated by Belgian nuns, the Order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, from early kindergarten to the eight grade, the artist pays homage to the memory of those dedicated teachers who’d travelled to the Caribbean as educational missionaries, those who’s sacrificed their lives for others, to serve God and educate students in the Christian faith. Fascinated as a child by the rosaries that they wore, he wrote about it in his unpublished novel, “The Remainders.”
BLACK VENUS
Constructed with 15 monochrome black triangles on canvas, this work grasps the reality of the material versus the void in dramatic terms. By linking smaller triangles around the base and point of an inverted, larger triangle, a geometric figure-like form is created for this painting, which recalls some African sculptural influences with their open, carved out areas within the tribal medium. The tiny space within the figure-like form is now a triangular void, which ironically echoes the shapes of the material/sculptural figure and counterpoints them simultaneously. Today’s Modular Triangular System post. Title: BLACK VENUS
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 78 cm ◊ H: 50” x W: 31”
THE MISSIONARY (2009)
Is tongue in cheek dimensional juxtaposition of found object detail in a silver cross and the elaborate exploratory body language of the missionary figure which is also a metaphorical space. Notice how the figure strides boldly towards the viewer as if to fervently convert an idea or principle. Here the artist uses his own belief concepts in visual innovation to mirror and convert the art viewer to a work of art that departs from the normal expectancy of a rectangular format in painting. He sees his own Modular Triangular System work as a missionary endeavor in art and here draws subtle intellectual reference to it in this piece. This presentation is very personal and at the same time an evaluation of the simple concept of converting any idea, whether religious or not, in the world that we inhabit to others.
HORSE WITH JOCKEY
Here the artist cleverly uses the format’s intrinsic diamond shape to accentuate the head of the horse. Inside the space we see the colourful red form of the jockey in an integrated expression that combines an overlapping imagery.
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 58 cm ◊ H: 50 ” x W: 23”
ZEMI CRUCIFIXION
Zemi crucifixion utilizes four triangles to depict the Easter event. But the cross depicted is no ordinary one, it recalls rather a crusader’s fighting sword rather than a wooden marker on Calvary. The referenced images of Mary and Magdalene mourning their loss are nestled into the shape of the format’s configuration. By choosing a zemi-shaped landscape, Caribbean artist Roy Lawaetz attempts to cross over into cultural boundaries of the Pre-Columbian Taino of the Caribbean while at the same time recalling the Christian celebration of Christ’s sacrifice for Mankind. References to ancestor worship of the Taino Indians and Christian practices of celebration bear some similarities which seem at times appear to transcend stark differences in cultural references. The triangular stone zemies revered by the Taino Indians also parallel in ironic symbolism to the concept of the Divine Trinity though not so intended.
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 134 cm ◊ H: 50” x W: 54”
TRIBAL SPIRAL – FLOWER (2004)
The spiral shape integrates tri-dimensionality with void and fullness intervals. The tri-dimensional construction spirals outward towards the viewer thus blurring the categories between painting and sculpture. Flat space becomes organic and life affirming. The motif elements reference Taino Indian petroglyphs in a fragmented dramatization, recalling pieces of archaeological material that have been painstakingly re-constructed by restoration.
Size: H: 50 cm x W: 50 cm ◊ H: 20 ” x W: 20
GIRL WITH PIANO
A single triangle uses its basic shape to highlight the angularity possibilities in a composition presentation distinctly different than had it been done on a rectangle. The piano and the suggestive puppeteer role of the figure’s fingers relating to the keys of the piano. A symbolic bird, winged in flight, emanates from the musical keys. A Christian cross above dangles a religious thematic in the overall connection.
SIZE: H: 63 cm X W: 58 cm H: 25.2 “ X W: 23.2”
SUGAR MILL JUMP UP
The artist uses eight triangles to echo the form of a sugar mill which was a part of colonial sugar cane production. Today the hills of St. Croix still have these ruins and here a blend of the historic and actual everyday festivity are blended in this scene of dancing stilt dancers in a resounding crescendo. Note his original approach to integrating the landscape and sea with, Danish West Indian architecture and island culture in a heightened carnival-like mood with this singular example of his Modular Triangular System.
Size: H: 60 cm x W: 102 cm ◊ H: 24” x W: 41”
WALTHER’S ZEMI
Walther Damgaard, a retired Civil engineer with a lifetime experience in engineering design, originally measured and suggested this combination of triangles for the artist to paint on as an added range source to the existing Modular Triangular System. The angles and adjustment possibilities his triangle options offer provide extended features like a faceted jewel to the standard Modular Triangular System prototypes of the Architectural Shape.
MOCKO JUMBIE REVELRY
The artist’s Hourglass Shape is employed here effectively to emphasize the height and agility of Mocko Jumbie stilt dancers. Note how the use of the canvas’ own edge to accentuate the twisting form of the two dancers is highlighted in the non=rectangular shape. And in the central area of the work the archway also serves concurrently as a carnival mask-like motif as well as a limb moving forward towards the viewer thus adding a sense of heightened action.
Size: H: 126 cm x W: 138 cm ◊ H: 50 ” x W: 55”
MASQUERADE
A carnival like gaze characterizes this face that recalls the costumes of Caribbean carnival which is always a festive time of the year. But it also reveals the fascination of the single triangle shape for the artist’s own choice of depiction to present his composition. Like the islanders who make their masks for carnival around Xmas time on St. Croix, Lawaetz uses his Modular Triangular System to recreate an ancient cultural practice by the Taino to carve tribal images on their triangular zemi stones.
Size: H: 63 cm x W: 58 cm ◊ H: 25 ” x W: 23”
STEEL PAN
This interactive work is one of a series of 18 paintings, 11 of which were presented for the very first time at the 1996 International Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil. The artist, inspired by the Taino, some of the Caribbean’s early settlers, utilized modern technology in this Modular Triangular System work to establish a visual commentary in contemporary terms. The recollection of the Taino Indians’ belief that some triangular zemies (spirit stones) could provide fertility, good harvests and adequate water in their lives was consecrated in works such as this one. In this featured work, which bridges painting and sculpture, musical steel pan musical sounds (with aid of a sensor device and hidden taped recorder) solved a contemporary artist’s response to Christopher Columbus who felt the Indians “didn’t want to work, only dance and play music” and simultaneously portrayed the Caribbean’s current day inhabitants as lovers of Carnival. The Latin American playwright Franklin Dominquez wrote in his in depth commentary the following: “The artist (Roy Lawaetz) combines painting and sculpture in an artistic category that is still avant garde.” Today’s MTS painting. Title: STEEL PAN
Size: H: 125 cm x W: 195 cm ◊ H: 50” x W: 78”
ANCESTRAL MESSAGES
Within the realm of creation there is always a lingering spark; the light of ideas is prepared to illuminate. Regulated by intensity and devotion its combustive reaction pulls from the past’s teachings to reach forward into the present. The accumulative legacies of multiple ancestors assist to formulate an aesthetic discourse, an arrangement of choices, a definition of composite reality. These constructive forces are always present, they instruct and inspire. (Six triangles on canvas with West Indian Mahogany pod adornment).
FACE OF VALUE
Sea shells were once a face of value, traded for goods, just as fiat currency, gold, and crypto currencies are today. Art is also a face of value with collectors hedging their bets on past and contemporary artists. In this Modular Triangular System painting on canvas, fragments of Caribbean conch shell are encrusted into a rich layer of black lava sand. The female figure composed of diverse triangles reveals attached chopsticks that dramatize the graceful image like a presentation on a stage of an Oriental theatre. This work concurrently draws inspiration from some other valued influences of art: the Pre Columbian, Western, African, here interspersed together with the digital.
Size: H: 190 cm x B: 62 cm H: 6’2” x B: 24”
BALANCING ACT
Painted some years ago it seems more valid than ever with its surprising quality of prediction, its prescient commentary on the human existence.
On the taunt tightrope of expression and daring the angularity challenges conformity to accept. Negative and positive spaces interact to dialogue in an unusual formation of visual conversation. The depicted tension stretches so that it barely touches life’s normalcy, only a faint relationship is suggested. A clown-like figure dances with wobbly legs that whirl as if within a theatrical grimace in a circus or a marionette figure prompted to dance by an outside force. Flexibility and agility decline in ordered tones. In order to survive definitively in the spatial composition there . Reality and illusion compete in the perception of time and space within reality’s challenges, restrictions, modern day absurdities and population control.
Size: H: 280 cm x B: 134 cm H: 112.8” x B: 53.6”
BRAIN EXTENSION
Painted over a decade ago, this Triangular work now appears more than ever to have a prescient and artistic commentary on the growing direction to hinge humanity’s brain power with the controversial movement of Transhumanism. In many other ways I now regard this work as an uncanny precursor to the age we are now living in even though the primordial imagery of early Caribbean Taino roots coupled with a colorful keyboard element/modernism seemed quite incredible at the time.
Size: H: 70 cm x B: 63 cm H: 28.2” x B: 25.2”
THE FLOWERING OF TIME
Centuries’ Old Chaney pieces of broken porcelain are innovatively used to extend the boundaries of painting and time/ space relationships. These tiny fragments are historical connections to St. Croix, USVI, its time and people. Once held by countless hands (white and black) on a St. Croix sugar plantation, the artist features them here as integral elements in a contemporary poetic statement.
COCONUT-LEGACY-OF-ERNEST-DIXON
This is an example of an inter-active painting created on an anchor shape. The central lower triangle is comprised of a copper cone filled with water. A concealed submersible pump circulates water to the green coconut object attached at the top of the painting. The Taino’s strong belief that fertility Zemis could ensure an ample supply of water in their daily lives is symbolized in this modern inter-active work. The painting is a tribute to Ernest Dixon (RIP) of St.Lucia in the Caribbean. He was a fascinating lover of nature and noted agriculturalist. It was one of eleven works the artist exhibited at the 1996 International Biennale Sao Paulo. (Acrylic on canvas, wood, sand, copper, coconut element with flowing water to copper cone below.)
H 1.95m x W 1.25m x 0.35m 6’6’’ x 42’ x 1’’
COLLABORATION-ROOTS
In Collaboration Roots has a bronze like patina to its canvas surface. This Zemi shape constructed out of four triangles is embellished with calabash gourds that were often used for carrying water or for drinking out of in Pre Columbian Caribbean societies. The Zemi symbol was supposed to provide adequate water to Taino Indian inhabitants and so this historical connection and belief is solidified in this work. The decorated calabash gourds were creatively designed by the artist’s daughter, Verena Lawaetz, thus a father-daughter combo art object.
SIZE: H: 89 cm x W: 96 cm H: 35.6” x W: 38.4”
DANCE-OF-THE-HURRICANE
An eclectic Diaspora image of the Taino God figure dominates this large canvas in pictographic/ petro glyph language, a connective composite of the artist’s tandem shape. The whirlwind expression commutates immense fury of the wind and the very word hurricane is derivative from the Taino Indian language meaning Great Wind, “Hurracan.” Before Columbus’ sailing expeditions to the new World there was the seasonal concern by the natives for those cyclical and destructive winds.
SIZE: H: 170 cm X W: 315cm H: 66.9 “ X W: 124”
ELBOW-ROOM
With one single triangle the artist attempts to express a compositional image that is compressed into a mixture of relationships, the facial expression, a swirling bird attached to the face building a nest with the female figure’s face, the resonating space highlighting a connection to Nature and the environment that is held interconnected as if in an egg shaped receptacle.
SIZE: H: 63 cm X W: 58 cm H: 25.2 “ X W: 23.2”
FAX-OF-LIFE
The fax machine hangs from her waist connectively as if a lady’s handbag with valuables. But inside its electronic mechanism she could still send personal messages to friends and family around the world. But now it seemed almost obsolete in its usage as means of communication spiraled into new inventions to facilitate communication between people. Cell phones. Tweets, emails, FB Messenger and a host of other alternatives had seemingly taken over. That’s how it was now.
Size: H: 195 cm x B: 125 cm D: 0.35 cm H: 6’6” x B: 4’2” D: 1”
GIRL-IN-ZEMI-LANDSCAPE
Archaeology in its dated artifact referrals also provide a continued source to explore. The Pre-Columbian historical status of the Caribbean remains undoubtedly source productive. The girl figure in this painting echoes the triangular shape of the Zemi stone and the “Zemi image” construction comprised of four triangles. This constructed departure additionally captures the playful insertion of two smaller zemies as representing compositionally shoulder elements of the figure. Meanwhile Petro glyp imagery asserts itself as if moveable toys adding to the lighthearted scenery. Even the girl’s dress design includes an eclectic patterned mixture of additional petro glyphic references and tropical vegetation in a poetic landscape.
Size: H: 126 cm x B: 134 cm H: 50.4” x B: 53.6”
HURRICANE CANDLE LIGHT DINNER
After the hurricane hit the tiny island and electrical power was nonexistent there were those uninvited candlelight dinners. Some managed to make the most out of it, making do with whatever means they could bring to the table. For some generators were only noises in the distance, not substitutes for distributing illumination if they didn’t own one. For others there remained only waxed candles, with a single guiding flame, which sufficed to see what could illuminate in the darkness.
Size: H 126 cm x W 1,34 cm H 50” x 53 ”
INDIAN-SIGNAL
A heraldic form stands unique in its connective totemic imagery in vertical alignment like a protruding eclectic stop sign on an imaginary highway of time. Deep roots in Pre-Columbian civilizations transcend and ascend to inspire the extensive ancestral connections between North American tribes and the indigenous early peoples of the Caribbean thus broadening the scope of tribal inclusion on a universal scale. Eleven triangles complete this elongated work with a rhythmic aura.
SIZE: H: 133 cm X W: 75cm H: 53.4” X W: 30.8”
NOCTURNAL-MUSIC
At first in the still night the sounds came closer and closer like advancing fog. Then through the window a form appeared as if a mirage. The house was supposed to have been vacant after the neighbors had moved but now there was obviously someone inside. When he peered with a sense of curiosity and discovery he saw the outlined figure of a girl crouched, alone and with her musical instruments.
Size: H 89 cm X W 96cm ◊ 35.6 in X 38.4 in
SETTING-THE-TABLE-BETWEEN-SUNSET-AND-ROMANCE
The maiden stands in her abode
Looking crafty with her home
With featured tablecloth she rescues
The cluttered spaces with little clues
Of decorated touches that make a mood
Of softened candlelight and flowered tunes
Her bodice form reveals the romance
That tonight is not left to open chance
The cadenced subtleties of feminine coy
Advances now in paralleled ploys
A little creature looks quietly on
A chameleon skilled in what she’s learned
Tiny creature or the human feminine
The signal’s clear and delights the masculine
STRETCH-OF-IMAGINATION
Stretch of imagination begins early after childbirth. Each baby makes his or her unique moves in directional exploration. It’s the driving force behind the learning curve, the curiosity of observing objects and surroundings, the remarkable exposure to enigmas, the activation of the senses, life. This early and formative introduction provides a liberated sense of empowerment, a taste of ultimate freedom. Every inch gained is a huge distance in development, a sounding board of experimentation.
SIZE: H: 63 cm X W:58 cm H: 25.2 “ X W: 23.2”
THE-EXERCISE
In a tight space of connectivity the female figure stretches forth in a posed manner that appears as if a photo op. The stringent configuration heightens the tension. Her legs appear to be pushing physical space outwardly away from her core. But the imagery is also a tongue in cheek commentary or reminder to the artist that he, too, must exercise his own elasticity with his invented Modular Triangular System, to remain active and flexible.
DANGLING FIGURE II
This Modular Triangular System work moves the figure motif into space by the way the image is projected away from the wall as contrasted by flat rectangular shaped canvases. Here the artist utilizes this connected fragmentation to create movement and tri-dimensionality. This proto-type format is especially effective for works being displayed on limited vertical spaces. It draws its inspiration from Marcel Duchamp’s “Nude descending a staircase” but of course converted to the artist’s own sense of pictorial movement. Size: H: 85 cm x W: 25 cm ? H: 33 ” x W: 9″
TOTEM-FIGURE
Consisting of 17 diverse-sized triangles, this multiplicity of the Modular Triangular System determines a dominant vertical stance that draws from Pre-Columbian roots. It is sculptured in its formality, its presentation, as much so as it is actually a painting at the same time. The crossover capture of the two mediums blending together account for the possibility two distinct expressions to integrate in this singular pose.
Size: 172.5 cm x 75 cm 70” x 30”
SLAVE SHIP IN THE PLANTATION HOUSE
This painting utilizes the Architectural Shape of the Modular Triangular system to convey its meaning and historical syntax. Taking a plantation house as a focal point of the Caribbean’s history, the artist combines the Celebration of Emancipation, with dancers under archways and the juxtaposition horror of slavery. Haunting figures radiate outwardly from a blazing sunset, shackled slaves in an eerie death march. Others, mere corpses, lay prostrate in the bowels of a slave ship, doomed to ignoble obscurity.
Size: H: 142 cm x W: 126 cm ◊ H: 57” x W: 50”
SHARK-LADY (2002)
In a daring display of the asymmetrical, triangles can also combine to form a pun of Caribbean life such as in “Shark Woman” as a double innuendo. Is this a direct reference to the lady’s demeanor, the way she deals with people etc. or is she just enamored of sharks? Maybe she’s a member of the “Be Kind to Sharks Society” and is trying to prove a point. Maybe she has the shark resting on her lap dolefully like a pet poodle. Or maybe she has just caught someone on her hook. What do you think? Could it be any or all of the above?
Size: H: 160 cm x W: 100 cm ◊ H: 64” x W:40
SALON LADY WITH CELLPHONE
Her hair’s been fixed But she looks betwixt She’s not sure if she’s satisfied Her look is stern Her demeanor forlorn Has the hairdresser really tried And I came by to pick her up In a star gazed lullabye Dreaming of a evening out But she only seemed to pout Not even laughter or a kiss Could bring a sense of bliss And the colors on my palette Became drier by the minute…. Could I style her what she misses And give her all she wishes A canvas lady’s not much different Than a flesh and blood respondent Both will fret and fume if the form’s not right And tell you plain tonight’s not the night.
Size: H: 102 cm x W: 65 cm ◊ H: 41” x W: 26”
RED GUITAR
In caressing posture the musician holds A red guitar that plays music bold In concert halls and sequences Within the spellbound audiences The ripping roar or gentle sound The calculated chords all wound To achieve the music’s harmony A play on stringed memory As if contributing to time A different sense sublime That lifts the spirit from the ordinary And leaves it refreshing for the weary Close your eyes you’ll hear the sounds That filter clear from all around
RESORT LADY (2006)
Four triangles in combination form the Wave Shape. Here the artist uses its particular configuration to accommodate a reclining figure in a tightly knit composition. The lady’s legs evoke a Zemi and her long elongated torso a pre-Columbian dudo— an attractive, ceremonial-type bench carved out of a single piece of wood and used by the Taino. The tattoo image on the figure’s thigh is also of Pre-Columbian origin. The title of the painting itself draws ironic attention to the existence of new arrivals to the island against the backdrop of pre-historic populations who once enjoyed our beaches.
Size: H: 95 cm x W: 120 cm ◊ H: 38” x W: 48”
RUM BARREL LADY
The lady poses with her rum barrels. As if she wore them as apparel. They stylize her close environment. Like frilled and fancy adornment. Is she a promoter of this tasty rum. Or she just a lady out to have some fun. She gazes forward into space. A leisured look upon her pretty face. Her head she covers with sugar cane. From the boiling sun and pouring rain. I dare say I might have met her once. In some treasured space once ensconced. But to look and seek and find her now. Might only mean I’d be disavowed.
Size: H: 89 cm x W: 141 cm ◊ H: 36” x W: 56”
KAI SAY CHINAMAN COMING TO SANTA CRUZ
The artist’s Uncle, Kai Lawaetz, who died at the age of 95, believed strongly the Chinese would someday be a superpower over fifty years ago. It was an opinion he would often profess while working between his lettuce beds or standing under his mango trees at Estate Little La Grange in the Rain Forest when receiving visitors. This painting attempts to sum up this ongoing prediction of a local farmer on St. Croix which today has already become a startling reality. Here the artist’s chooses his Sugar Mill shape to depict the central figure, one whose wrinkles resemble Taino petroglyphs. The Chinaman hat is also a pith helmet which the farmer wore and also a Taino zemi all in one. From Taino to Chinese might well have been this painting’s title.
WINE MUSIC HOUSE
In a house of the friendly haunted
Grandfather’s ghost remains undaunted
Inspired by a collector’s tale
This painting is inspiration’s trail
Of a deceased grandfather appearing
Cigar smoke behind him trailing
As the collector relates whimsically
Farfar loved cigars almost exclusively
So whenever the smoke aura fills the air
It’s a signal that grandfather is there
Spirited in his affection for the place
His ghostly figure never reveals his face
Only the cigar smoke is enough to signal
Once more this wine music house ritual
With fine wines from vineyards stored
The occupants are never bored
Celebrating anniversaries with ghosts
And toasting when it means the most
Skol! in Danish is their celebratory call
For ghosts and men, for one for all !!
THE LAST VOYAGE OF GENERAL BUDDHOE
This work is part of Emancipation series of paintings, some of which were originally exhibited in Paris’ Grand Palais, France for the 150 Anniversary of Emancipation in 1998. It provides visual commentary on the story of Buddhoe, St. Croix’s leader of the slaves, who was sailed away on a Danish ship shortly after the 1848 Emancipation. History books suggest that Buddhoe was sailed to Trinidad in safety but the painting seems to suggest otherwise. Many still believe he might have encountered a different fate, never to have reached land. Note how the “Modular Triangular System’s” unique shape logic in this work provides a ship-like environment by the way the triangles are configured. The additional chain element in the composition more than suggests a clue to the artist’s own interpretation of what really happened to Buddhoe.
Size: H: 150 cm x W: 160 cm ◊ H: 60” x W: 64”
FACE IN THE SUGAR MILL (2006)
Eight triangles combine to form a sugar mill shape which the artist uses to convey a structural motif that is in the shadows of past centuries of plantation life on St. Croix. Out of the shaped canvas the face image looks directly at the viewer. Sugar stalks are entwined to represent hair in symbolic association. The strong image evokes a compelling presence out of antiquity.
Like a ghost from the past you stare
What was your name, give us the year
The somnambulistic games you play
Darting between history gone astray
The sugar cane braids grow longer
With time that passes even stronger
Perhaps your abode is still Maroon Ridge
The escaped haven for sanctuary’s pledge
But you reappear as though still haunted
Amongst the trivial talk of the undaunted
In rum shops and projects that casually reveal
The episode of escaped slaves felt as real
Should your face overshadow this sugar Mill
As if your shoulders lifted stones at will
Or should my painter’s brush remove your gaze
As if you never held close to history’s ways
And if I let you stay and coexist
What’s your penance to remain like this?
And should I play the white planter’s role
Assume in life and death you have no soul?
Roy Lawaetz
THE RUM MAIDEN