Name
Origins & Ancestries: Genesis
Description
Note: This work of art is being sold under a Limited Commercial License for the entrepreneurial-minded.
This 12-second animated video represents the 'UNI' series — my attempt to reconnect with my ancestors in ancient times. 'UNI' is a word in the native language (Papiamento) of Aruba. It means 'united' in English.
These pictorial creations are inspired by the many shapes I’ve internalized in my own artistic visions along with a newfound inspiration to connect with my indigenous roots in precolonial times by bringing that sensibility into contemporary times. I've broken out elements of this “mother work” to create other NFTs in this set.
The materials used include cotton canvas with a natural material that is called annatto (Bixa Orellana) in English, achiote in Spanish and rucu in Papiamento. Rucu is a seed that is used in crushed seed and powder form, mixed with a binder and white acrylic paint. The work also incorporates black and chrome-colored paint marker.
'UNI' is inspired from the book ‘The Archaeology of Aruba: The pictographs and petroglyphs' by Aad H. Versteeg & Harold J. Kelly. (A pictograph is painted on the stone/cave while a petroglyph is a shape that is carved into the stone/cave.) There are more than 480 pictographs and petroglyphs that have been documented in Aruba, some lost today due to vandalism and natural decay.
I incorporated rucu in the work because it connects me with my Arawak/Caquetio ancestors. The material is considered sacred among indigenous peoples in South and Central America and the Caribbean and it has many usages, including medicine, rituals, body adornment, food, etc. In today's world, the material is used primarily as food dye, found from my own home to worldwide factories. (Every Aruban can tell you the story how Grandma always used to have some annatto seeds cooked in oil at the ready to add some natural color to a dish.)