GYAL DEM
Gyal Dem, Latex and Spray Paint Mural 2020
The title of this piece is “Gyal Dem” - it basically means “the girls” or “the women.” Listen below to hear me explain what was in my mind when I created this work, and check out the paired playlist that was the background sound for the creative.
GYAL DEM
Gyal Dem is one in a set of art murals and installation work I created in NYC at Negril Village, an upscale Jamaican restaurant. Here is the meaning behind this first piece which leads you down the stairs and where I was at in my head while making this.
I had been trying to think about the current conversations happening around race and justice in America, processing phone calls with friends. What I realized was that while I went to a protest, I didn't feel I was making an impact. I thought, I want justice for all, and yet, I want to protect and craft the experience of the living. This piece is my way of doing that. In NYC there are so many upscale places filled with beautiful design and interiors, spaces that create the memories, meals, moments we keep as the better punctuations in our lives, which have been fraught with feelings of fear, aloneness, and at times, even hopelessness, especially in the last year. This space is a black owned business, one that has always welcomed you in, no matter what you were wearing or what you looked like. I wanted to create a work that celebrated that inclusiveness, and in this piece, I wanted to celebrate Caribbean women. In these faces, the women are rising out of water. Around them are things such as flowers, the ackee fruit, the conch shell, and of course, a mango. I hope, if you ever see this piece, you feel that the spaces that welcome you in, are reflecting beauty and diversity. That the level of work in the spaces that welcome you, is beautiful. That your moments in life are going be beautiful, and that you have a place in the world where your ancestry is honored and celebrated. I hope you feel all the energy, reggae, soca, and afrobeats I played while working on this piece. While some of us fight for justice for the dead, I want to continue, through art, crafting spaces that provide integrity and a level of work to influence the joy we can feel while living. This piece was done in full free style with no grids and no designs. It is latex and spraypaint, and it is YOURS. To you from me.
