Serendipity: May 2019

Why an exhibition of round paintings?

Well, why not?

Just wanted to do something a little different this time.

Not half as happy as you normally paint, commented a friend.

True.

Nothing like my colourful portraits of cute puppies. These paintings are based on events I read about in the press and no, that is not something to be happy about. WTF was mostly my reaction, followed by disgust, anger and sometimes desperation. Here, judge for yourself…

Not One Less… (59cm)

Hardly a day goes by without a woman being brutally murdered in Guatemala. In 2018 there were 228 reported victims. It seems 209 is going to be even worse.

Survivor Series (65cm, 56cm, 34.5cm. Double portrait Milagros: 39.5cm)

On June 3^rd of 2018 the Fuego volcano erupted and covered several communities under a thick layer of ashes and other debris. To this day there are still people buried at what was named Zone 0. Other people (and animals) did survive. These children were some of the kids I worked with at the shelter. The dog Milagros eerily had “Ayuda” (help) written on her side. We never knew whether help was asked for her or her owners. Milagros (“Miracles”, as I named her) was very sick but made it against all odds en is now living the life in the USA.

Ghost Towns (41 and 20cm)

There are ghost towns and there are ghost towns… The first one is deserted and completely unliveable as is San Miguel Los Lotes after the volcano eruption (although reconstruction of parts of the community is under way).

Another sort of ghost town is a community you invent, such as El Paxtal, so the government will invest in a state of the art highway to this non-existing community. That’s what you do if you’re a congress woman and you happen to own a spa in that place.

Golden Balls (50cm)

February 2018. The Board of Veterinarians decides to raise the price of castrations for cats and dogs to Q950.

In a country where there is a huge overpopulation of dogs and cats and where people barley can afford to feed them, this is completely ludicrous.

Guatemalan Landscapes (41cm, 35cm, 21cm)

Guatemala is a fantastic country with incredible natural resources. However, if you look around it’s mostly trash you see. I would really like to see patriotism being expressed though a better care of this beautiful land…

“Rapists and Murderers” (34.5cm (without frame), ink and watercolour, )

Rosendo Noviega, a 38-year-old migrant from Guatemala, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America en route to the United States, holds his daughter Belinda Izabel as he walks along the highway to Juchitan from Santiago Niltepec, Mexico, October 30, 2018. An estimated 2,300 children are travelling with the migrant caravan headed north to the U.S.-Mexico border, UNICEF said, adding that they needed protection and access to essential services like healthcare, clean water and sanitation.
REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Someone else said the migrants were “murderers and rapists”.

Bones of Memory (50cm)

Mass graves from the civil war are still being found and forensic scientists relentlessly work to identify the victims. On June 24 of 2018, 172 Victims of the civil war are finally officially buried in San Juan Comalapa.

Hogar Seguro /Safe House (75cm)

At first glance quite a happy, colourful painting of a bunch of butterflies in a shadowbox.

However, each butterfly carries the name of one of the 41 girls who lost their lives sat the Virgen de la Asunción Safe Home in San José Pinula, Guatemala.

This government-run children’s home had been under investigation for multiple reports of abuse of the children. In March of 2017 a group of adolescents decided to escape the home. They were hunted down as if they were dangerous criminals. While the boys were sent back to their dorms, the girls were locked in a classroom without water or access to a bathroom. After long hours, the girls lit up some mattresses in order to get the attention of the two police officers guarding the padlocked door. The fire got out of hand; the door wasn’t opened until it was much too late. 41 girls lost their lives, another 15 were badly injured.