Current Projects - Read more
Fruits of the Caribbean
Vanessa Soodeen is the fruit of an Irish mother and a Trinidadian father.
She is a graduate in Psychology and Philosophy (Trinity College, Ireland) and certified in Psychosynthesis (PS Avalon, UK). She is the co-author (with Trinidadian writer Elspeth Duncan) of the Theatrical play 'The House that Jack Built' (Trinidad (1996), author and illustrator of her first children's book 'Mamás Mías' (Spain 2004) and is also an artist and illustrator with published children's books internationally. She has exhibited her artwork in solo and group exhibitions in Trinidad and Tobago, England and Ireland. She has worked as a Creative Art Designer for an independent Television programme (SUN TV, Trinidad) and continues to work in multimedia with digital video and editing.
Now living in San Sebastian, Spain she still carries the seeds of the many years she spent in the Caribbean.
The 'Fruits of the Caribbean' are the potential rewards of the 'successes' as well of the 'struggles' of the Caribbean people, the day to day bearing of these polarities that make history what it is and allow too, for fertile future possibilities.
The use of Fruit is used to symbolise the Caribbean people, and yet at the same time it is not exclusive to the Caribbean, reflecting experiences in every society. Some things are local yet in the end, as we peel the fruit, we find essential similarities between people and cultures.
Trinidad in recent years has been walking through darker times where crime and corruption is on the rise and while I wish to recognize this I also want to present a hopeful outlook that -
'This too shall pass'.
As I am aware that we presently see life in dualistic terms, it is not yet possible to speak in terms of 'good' without acknowledging 'bad', in terms of 'love' without admitting 'fear', in terms of 'fruitful' without acknowledging 'fruitless'.... This is where we are on planet earth at this time. However for me there is something beyond this perspective and this something I refer to here as the Fruit of eternal life, the essence underlying all movement, the everlasting energy mechanics of the universe. While some of my paintings then, are current commentaries speaking of themes such as relationships between people and across peoples, seeds that grow mentally, emotionally and creatively, others highlight and celebrate this Essence.
Live love and laugh
Vanessa