Cayman Art Week is in full swing, with artists from across the islands showcasing their work at a variety of galleries, studios and pop-up spaces.
The six-day event, now in its fifth year, runs from Tuesday, 19 May, to Sunday, 25 May, and also features a variety of workshops, panel discussions and hop-on-hop-off bus tours.
One of the artists taking part is Canadian painter Jason Kennedy, who moved to the Cayman Islands in 2008 and now runs his own gallery on Grand Cayman, ‘The Gallery By Jason Kennedy’.
The 44-year-old is sharing a selection of his work, alongside that of three fellow artists: Gordon Scott, Avril Ward and Samuel Etoh.
Kennedy is full of praise for the festival, which, he says, is shining a light on a burgeoning art scene that’s been somewhat overlooked.
“When it comes to art, Cayman isn’t really on the map like Cuba or Jamaica,” he says.
“People going to Havana will pick up some artwork because Cuban artwork is known worldwide, but when they think of Cayman, it’s beaches and banks.
“But now people are finding out about us – they’re seeing that there are artists here doing some really great things, and that’s because of support from initiatives like Cayman Art Week.”
He says the event’s success has much to do with its founder and artistic director, Natalie Urquhart.
“Natalie’s vision for this and what she’s done with it is incredible. It’s so well organised – like the free bus shuttles around the islands, which are a brilliant idea.”
Kennedy’s main focus these days is running his gallery or painting in it (visitors to the space might therefore see him in action).
A collection of Jason Kennedy’s artwork at his gallery in Camana Bay (Photos: Jason Kennedy)
But had he not moved to the Cayman Islands, his life might have taken a very different path.
“I’ve always been in to art and got quite serious about it at school, and even went to university to do a fine arts degree,” he says.
“However, I dropped out after a year. I don’t think I was ready for it then. I was 18, quite intimidated by it all and also didn’t take it seriously enough. I was focused on other things.
“I then took business instead. It seemed more sensible than becoming an artist, which I thought would probably be too difficult to do full time.”
In 2008, sometime after graduating, Kennedy was living in Toronto selling paper and toner door to door, “basically freezing seven months of the year”, when he got together with a teacher.
“She said, ‘Hey, let’s move to the Cayman Islands’. I’d been to various Caribbean islands on holiday and I loved them, but hadn’t been to Cayman and knew very little about it, but thought, ‘Why not? Let’s give this thing a go.’ And we did.
“She actually moved back to Canada shortly after, but I decided to stick around and have never left.”
Kennedy got a job at the Cayman Compass selling advertising, then later at Cayman 27 – but during this time, “as a little side project” he returned to his first love, art.
Asked what inspired him to pick up a paint brush again, he says “it was the Cayman people and their culture”.
Kennedy’s paintings, then and now, often portray Caymanians in sea or beach settings, whether it’s a man gutting fish, someone opening a coconut or a swimmer or snorkeller emerging from the water.
He was unsure if an “outsider’s perspective” would be welcome but says he needn’t have worried.
“I got so much support from the community. I’m not sure if that would have happened everywhere, but Caymanian people are so warm and welcoming.
“There are other beautiful Caribbean islands, but what makes Cayman stand out is the folk who live here. And I love showing those people in the work I do.”
As demand for his art grew, and he started picking up commissions alongside his own pieces, Kennedy was able to give up full time employment to focus on his passion.
He tends to work from photographs and will sometimes spot a person he’s keen to capture and ask if he can take their picture for a painting.
Other times, he’ll set up a scene with someone he knows, take some photos and work from those.
“Sometimes I have visions,” he explains. “For example, I had this idea of a young Caymanian lady hanging laundry outdoors – normally you imagine someone older doing this, so there’s a nice visual contrast, as well as a link between her and what her grandma might have done.
“And so I asked this girl I know, Sydonie, who is fantastic, and we staged it at an old house. It worked really well.”
One recent series saw him create 12 portraits of 12 different people who work in various creative fields on Cayman.
“I selected, among others, an architect, a musician, a chef, a painter for the portraits. It was a kind of tribute to the creative individuals on Cayman who are working hard and are very good at their jobs. I wanted the paintings to tell their story, which I think they did.
“They were very well received by the community, which made me very happy. One lady cried when her piece was revealed, she was so touched.”
That series was painted with oils, but Kennedy often uses acrylics as well and will sometimes mix a bit of seawater in with the latter.
“Sometimes it will be for the backwash, but I’ve used it in the actual main paint too. It takes away that thick viscous texture that I don’t like too much of,” he says.
“It’s no different than using regular water, but it gives the painting more of a story – people love the idea that there’s actual Cayman sea water in the painting.”
For Cayman Art Week, Kennedy is showcasing a selection of paintings that haven’t been exhibited previously.
Aside from commissions, he’s not sure what his next collection will be but for now he’s enjoying being part of a “bubbling” Cayman art scene that he believes is thriving more than ever.
“The art industry is incredibly tough wherever you are in the world, so it’s wonderful that it’s possible to live on Cayman now and make a viable living out of it,” he says.
“It’s also a lot of fun being part of this wonderful little art community we have here, where everyone is so supportive of each other. And Cayman Art Week is a great example of that.”
Kennedy’s paintings and those of his fellow exhibitors will be on display throughout Cayman Art Week at The Gallery by Jason Kennedy in The Paseo, Camana Bay.
For more information about Cayman Art Week visit their website.
You can also read our interview with sculptor and painter Yonier Powery, whose work is on display at optometrists Optique in Queen Court Plaza, West Bay Road.
