Colonial Debris is an ongoing series of work that I started in 2022. I created new prints on paper for the series during the In Relations exhibit that opened at Tern Gallery in February 2024. The new prints on paper are titled “The Musicians”.

The Colonial Debris series shares images of different created icons- the Priest, the Black Angels, the Columns, the Torsos, the Banker, the Mahogany, the Drummer, and the Musicians. The Musicians are archival inkjet prints on paper that aredesigned from images I have taken from collected figurines, combined with designed backgrounds made by disassembling and reassembling scans of old tourist advertisements and documentary imagery of the Cayman Islands (my place of birth). One of the Musician figurines is a black plastic cherub who plays the viola. The other Musician figurine is a pair of wooden men playing the bagpipes. Both types of musicians allude to the musical tools of European cultures that werebrought into the Caribbean region.

Each figure made through this process has become one of my new icons for the Caribbean region, thinking about new icons that can emerge from the colonial debris. The Musicians are archival inkjet prints placed on Hahnemuhle paper; each print is 20 x 30 inches ( 51 x 76 cm).

Also included with the prints is a ceramic sculpture with gold luster titled “The Music Player”. The ceramic sculpture contains a mini Bluetooth speaker inside of it that plays an audio track on a loop. The audio was made by my collaborator and Nashville-based audio producer, Haru Sayso. The title of the audio track is titled “All I Need”.

“The In Relation exhibit at Tern Gallery was a group exhibit featuring Caribbean artists, Gherdai Hassell, Simon Tatum, and Drew Weech. It brought together three practices from the Anglophone Caribbean to illuminate intimacy within the personal and the political. Each artist grounds their work in personal anecdotes that push their audience to the ever-present politics of our existence within the Global North; however, they allow tenderness and intimacy to remain in place. “In Relation” gave breath to this dichotomy.” -Jodi Minnis.

Artworks from the Colonial Debris series are now available for purchase with Tern Gallery. If you are interested in finding out more details, reach out to them directly (link: https://www.terngallery.com/exhibitions/in-relation ).