New Creative connections to Ayo

Art is a way of connecting to others in a way that doesn’t have to be in language form; thus, it can connect with more people. There are many forms of art, visual, performing, media, etc. Examples that come to my mind of some of these forms are painting, dance, fashion, and music. Art is an expression of an idea and/or emotions of the creator.

Ayo has art in the form of paintings, as has been discussed before, that are on the boulders. In the present, we don’t know for sure what the drawings mean. Thus, there is a gap between the interpretations of the past and what a modern audience would interpret from art. Rock paintings can be found in many places near our island, but there is something that makes the rock paintings here unique. The ones around Aruba can be found not just in one color but in two colors: white and red. Also, the two are painted on top or very close to each other. The current research capabilities cannot identify what the paintings are. Some can be seen as anthropomorphic and some as zoomorphic, which means they are humanlike and resemble animals, themes that are still used in art in the present.

A while ago I went to an art exhibition called “Portals” by Liz (@iam_liz), Creamofwu (@creamofwu), and Rudyo Leysner (@Leysner_art). Some of the same themes were present, such as animals and humanlike images. That made me think that while there are many new mediums and new styles in which art can be made, there are always ideas that are present from the past that continue to be passed down through generations of artists. Art, as you can see, is just a different form of storytelling. The exhibition had more art focused on surrealism. In my mind, the art at Ayo can also be considered surrealist in some ways because we don’t know exactly what they depicted in the past with every pictograph. I might not be right about that, though, but art is subjective.

A different way I saw someone draw inspiration from rock paintings is by using them in their fashion design. I have been seeing ads on social media for Maison Ryon, which has a collection based around our heritage. There are two parts to the collection called “Herencia.” One part is based on tiles that can be found in traditional Aruban houses and is mainly clothing items. The second part of the collection is a jewelry collection based on the pictographs and petroglyphs on our island. This is a version of art that directly references art that was created in the past. It is a very different example of how the world around them inspires various artists.

This blog took a different turn than I expected when I originally thought of writing it; it became more about viewing how art can be referenced or inspired by other art in different ways. Art in any medium that is used, as I mentioned at the beginning, can be a way to connect with the world around us, and creators in the past and present are connected through art. There is a line that can be seen throughout time. I had to put words to my thoughts on the part of my heritage that made me reflect on the life I will live on this island in the future as well. This was the last blog in this series. Thank you for reading it.