Art exhibit pairs veteran and newcomer
One is a fixture in the world of Belizean art, the other a first time exhibitor. Beginning Friday night the work of both women will be on display at the House of Culture. Today News Five’s Kendra Griffith took a sneak peak.
Kendra Griffith, Reporting
Rachael Heusner is known on the art scene for her vibrant colours and Caribbean scenery, but in her latest exhibition, she’s brought some other hues to the wall: black, white, and beige.
Rachael Heusner, Artist
“I’ve done black and whites before but every so often I go back because doing black and white is a good study for light and dark. I recently opened up a coffee shop, some of them are done not only with ink, but coffee. There’s a lot of coffee art that’s done in the U.S.; people do paintings entirely with coffee. Seeing that I had the shop, it’s a coffee shop and art gallery, I said oh, I should have some coffee art. So I just started experimenting with it and it gives the painting a nice little antique kind of feel.”
Showcasing alongside Heusner is first time exhibitor Yaoling Lee.
Yaoling Lee, Artist
“Nine years here I am. I am a mother of three and my kids are still my priority, but since they are all grown up, my last boy is three and a half, so I got more time right now, so I start over my art work.”
Rachael Heusner
“Yaoling is a new friend of mine, an associate and she’s a very, very good artist, but she’s never shown in Belize and I thought hey, why don’t you show with me and she was so excited.”
Yaoling Lee
“When I was in Europe, most of the things around me, musicians, jazz musicians, dancers, flamenco … those things, those inspire me and the art studio, the human beings, I do a lot of work with those things. Right now, my subject move to the landscaping and those are my first trial actually, I never do landscaping on oil canvas. And I like them.”
The exhibition officially opens Friday night and will run for two weeks at the Belize City House of Culture. Heusner is hoping residents will show their support for the arts, by not only attending the show, but also buying a piece.
Rachael Heusner
“It would be nice for Belizean people to start purchasing and see it as an investment. I know the times that we are living in, it is very hard economically, but to have something original by an artist from your country is also very precious. It’s something that I think every Belizean should have.”
And while Yaoling would also appreciate a sale or two, the people she is really trying to impress are her standard two and three art students.
Yaoling Lee
“They are future artists and I hope this will inspire them. In Belize we don’t have a lot of exhibitions actually and I really want to see how they come here to take a look at everything, Rachael’s work, my work and we will see the reaction from the kids and this will be my most important intention from this exhibition, actually.”
Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.
Heusner’s Coffee Shop and Art Gallery is located on Princess Margaret Drive.
