Island of Dreams

The light, the heat, the smells, the sounds and the taste of the Caribbean are magical, especially to those who live in northern climates with long cold winters.

A few years ago in the Dominican Republic I saw an exhibition of the work of the Dominican painter Ricardo Toribio that showed me life on an island in a new light- a vision of a world surrounded by water where people danced in town squares and trees grew from thatched roofs. I quickly arranged to meet Ricardo to explore working together- I gave him five large photographic prints of images that I had made in the Caribbean and he immediately understood what I was envisioning – the combined visions of a photographer and a painter into one work of art- inspired by reality- but not constrained by it.

The moments of time frozen in these photo paintings start from reality- albeit a delightful, curious reality. Together we stretch this reality a bit- adding whimsy and myth as paint is added to the photographs creating a new and enchanted island, influenced by the magical roots of the Caribbean -but not limited by it.