When I decided to dedicate myself to Art as a professional Artist, my main focus was on culture and nature.

Wan bon, someni wiwiri (One tree, so many leaves)
This text is out of a poem by Dobru, our Surinamese poet. It is not about a melting pot as it has been in many of the Caribbean Islands.  It was about authentic ethnic cultures that all different ethnic groups were proud to show to each other and to the world as being of one country Suriname.  First I was fascinated by all the different cultures in my country and then I adapted them all as being mine. All these cultures have inspired me in my work.

The Spiritual Strength nature holds within
My country has the most extraordinary nature. For instance National Geographic published an article on the ‘Tafelberg’ as a unique spot on earth. It is not just this beautiful nature but nature as the spiritual strength it holds within.

Life is Art and Art is Life
But then came a time when nature and culture were no issue anymore.
I realized that Art was more than a picture on the wall or a sculpture in a hall.
I dedicated myself to the development of Visual Art in Suriname. Art events and productions together with other artists became more important, then my work as an individual artist.
 The concept was Art and the rest was of less importance. This idea changed and especially in recent years my love for the traditional way of painting is increasing again. 
But for years I stated that ‘Life is Art and Art is Life’.

The inner strength of a woman
Through the years I became increasingly aware of existing prejudices and barriers withholding talented women from becoming professional artists in my developing country.
Then I reconsidered my position as a female artist, or woman artist.
I was asked to have a speech at the opening of an exhibition of 5 woman artists. I decided to do a performance. It was a dance in silence, a dance based on Ballet-, Kathak- and Barat Natyam movements. My speech became the explanation of the performance.

The woman artist
You reach for something higher
It becomes your own
You make it visible
You look into the mirror
You can be confident
You did a good job
You are doing experiments, not everybody understands you
Concentrated you are going on
You keep your balance on the edge of emotion and intellect
You want to be sublime

The Dutch version:
De vrouw als beeldend kunstenaar
Je doet een greep naar het hogere
Je maakt het je eigen
Je brengt het naar buiten
Je houdt jezelf een spiegel voor
Je merkt dat je zelfvertrouwen mag hebben
Je hebt iets goeds bereikt
Je experimenteert, niet iedereen begrijpt je
Maar je gaat toch geconcentreerd verder
Je balanceert op de rand van emotie en intelligentie
Je wilt het sublieme bereiken.

This subject inspired me to realize an interdisciplinary project ‘The strength of women’ consisting of a solo exhibition, a short video-film and a booklet with three short stories.
My statement was: ‘It is my inner strength that keeps me in balance as a women artist.’

Hybridism
Recently I started to focus again on the multicultural Surinamese society and the person I became; born, living and working in Suriname, a Dutch Caribbean country.

Multiculturalism often raises the question of one’s own identity.
I envision the following process of identity formation:
1.The first generations (slaves, immigrants, colonists) bring traditional cultural expressions from their homeland to the new country.
2.The culture of those in power is superior and mostly the other groups conform to that culture.
3.The ‘back to the roots’ generations, who strive towards renewed appreciation of authentic culture.
4.The hybrid generation. A natural process of assimilation. It can be a mixture of different races, but also just conscious or unconscious blending of different cultural elements.

In Suriname the melting pot idea was never an issue. Parochialism was in favour of political parties. Living peacefully together next to each other was the solution. But the one tree with so many leaves has been bearing fruits. And out of the cross-pollination came hybridism.
Being a Surinamese, a Caribbean woman and a world citizen, I realize that I have a hybrid heritage, that I have a hybrid personality, that I am hybrid.  I started a research of the strength of hybridism.’ The globalization with people traveling back and forth is a basis for hybridism.

Being local and ‘splendid in isolation’, being of ‘a place out of time’.
‘Suriname splendid in isolation, a place out of time, where Asia, Africa and the Netherlands meet’, was the title of an article by Simon Romero, New York Times Travel section, dated September 16, 2011.  The article was published during my residency at Vermont Studio Center.
At the moment I want to tell the story of a place out of time to the world.