March 17, 2007 — Crucians leaving the popular Sunset Jazz Festival on Friday had one more art option for the evening.
About 200 residents extended their night of art by attending a reception at a Roy Lawaetz exhibit, "The Art of Cultural Re-affirmation," at the Fort Frederik Museum in Frederiksted.
Over and over again, the artist uses his triangular-focused vision to give a new visual experience — one that has both depth and scope in the Caribbean's past and present. The modular triangular system is just one result of his interest in the Taino Indians. It touched the childhood years of Lawaetz with an early knowledge of the Arawak stone zemis.
At age 11, he spent hours after school as an apprentice to the curator of St. Croix's first archaeological museum. He started his art education in Provincetown and New York City. His early career was in geometric abstraction, abstract expressionism. Lawaetz has exhibited frequently in the international scene in juried and invitational shows.
Those who missed the reception can still visit the exhibition until Transfer Day, March 31. it includes 16 pieces in the the modular triangular system. According to his website, the style derives from the artwork of indigenous peoples such at the Tainos. In this style, Lawaetz rejects the standard rectangle format in painting and rediscovers the tiny triangular zemi stone of the Taino Indians.
The system primarily involves paintings done on triangular canvasses, often with several canvasses juxtaposed or overlapping. The people moving through the exhibit Friday expressed wonder at the color and shapes of the artwork on the walls.
"I've admired his studio from the outside for many years, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to see the work," said Deloris Fielding, a resident of St. Croix. "The variety and vitality of the art are very invigorating."
Lawaetz will leave for art events in Europe in April, then he will travel to his studio in Sweden, where he spends the summer. The artist has two daughters, and one has followed in his footsteps. Anitania is an accomplished jewelry designer in Miami. His other daughter, Verena, is the manager of a farm guest house in St. Lucia.
For an interview with the artist, see "From Fort Frederik to Florence, Italy: St. Croix Artist Achieves International Success."
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