Kwesi Abbensetts b . Guyana 1976 ; works in New Jersey , USA
The Old House , from the series Metamorphosis , 2017 ( left ) The Front Steps , Under Berbice Night , from the series Metamorphosis , 2017 ( right ) Mixed-media on vinyl wall paper , found wooden crates Courtesy of the artist
Kwesi Abbensetts ’ roots in Guyana stem from both city-life in Georgetown and country-life in the East Berbice-Corentyne coast — a stretch of miles with the Atlantic Ocean to its north , Suriname to its east , and Brazil to its south . From these crossroads , the bustling capital and the provincial countryside , Abbensetts became an early witness to constant acts of migration .
In these works , Abbensetts transforms vinyl wallpaper into his canvas . Vibrant in his use of deep colors , lighter hues , and dominant blacks , the artist employs the bold gestural nature of Abstract Expressionism in conjuring a homeland not seen since 2001 . Layered onto the wallpaper are newspaper clippings , abstract lines , and a blueprint-esque white outline etched with a table fork of “ House # 64 ”— the Berbice home he grew up in . Borrowing the title of his series from Ovid ’ s Metamorphoses — the epic poem chronicling the history of the world where transformation is key — Abbensetts states these paintings are a “ reconciling emotive exorcism of his experiences that are slowly fading from disconnection and acts of emigrating .” The artist bridges the two canvasses with a series of re-purposed wooden crates and also hangs them in a ladderlike construction from the ceiling . On them he handwrites the names of towns , villages , and former plantation sites familiar to Guyanese people as a way to signify the ubiquitous presence of the country ’ s British colonial past .