Peacock
The saying goes, “as proud as a peacock.” But isn’t it also a bit more like, “as vain as a peacock”? Or maybe neither? The male peacock has to work hard to impress the ladies, showing that he can survive despite those beautiful but utterly impractical feathers, which surely get in the way. Well, the […]
Bob
I was young and lived in a nondescript village in the Netherlands, near Utrecht. Of course, I knew nothing about the Black struggle. It was the late ’70s, early ’80s. What did I know about anything? But oh, the music of Bob Marley. I felt like he was singing about something big and important—about human […]
Bad
Something is swirling in the air here, estrogen and testosterone; shameless and bold. I found this graffiti deep in Otrobanda. You can imagine the dancehall where African style is danced, with bubbling and daggering. Boy Meets Girl. Europeans are a bit more reserved, though Nietzsche came up with a word for it: Dionysian. Dionysus was […]
Twins
I saw both faces near a little café by the waterfront, on the Otrobanda side. This is Art!! Wow, so beautiful. These faces deserved a golden wall, and that’s exactly what I gave them. Why do I think they’re brothers, even twins? They don’t even look alike, and their expressions are completely different. And yet, […]
Gaya
Gaya is an ancient goddess, the Mother Earth. A primal force that runs deeper than the power of the usual gods in mythology. She gives, creates, but must not be angered. This is a young, beautiful woman, her breath is the wind, the trade winds, and her hair is water, the ocean. The parrots fluttering […]
Abundance
The sea around Curaçao is full of fish and surrounded by coral, making it a fantastic place for diving. Unfortunately, that coral is under threat, just like everywhere else in the world. You can admire the fish, but of course, you can also eat them—and it’s only natural that, on an island, people catch fish. […]
Magic
This lady is more than she appears at first glance. You can see it in her hand, holding a heart, and in her third eye—not on her forehead, but in her earring. An eye that looks straight ahead while the woman seems to be gazing off into the distance. It’s as if the eye watches […]
Natural
I didn’t alter the composition at all. Well, maybe the colors—I touched those up a bit. And the contours, just a little. But the composition, I left it as it was. I find it beautifully balanced. The male figure with the lizard on the faded poster on the right, and the wall with shades of […]
La Tasca
You can just make out the letters. It says “La Tasca,” which turns out to have been a nightclub where Trago girls worked. These are girls forced into prostitution. The two owners of the club were convicted of human trafficking and employing illegal workers. A few police officers who were fond of visiting the club […]
Seabird
I saw it flying, but on a wall that had nothing to do with the sky. So, I went looking for a blue and white sky and found it on this wall. Is it a gannet? No, those are white. It’s definitely a seabird, gliding on the thermals, and a quick Google search tells me […]