Exhibition
Blue Meridian presented the work of sculptor Davin Ebanks in the artist’s first solo exhibition at the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands. Comprised of a series of contemporary glass sculptures, the works in Blue Meridian meditated on questions of Caymanian identity, while reflecting the artist’s complex responses to this theme, as well as his mining of personal and familial history as a source of sustained inspiration for his practice.
Visitors to the exhibition were treated to several works on display that appeared to be slices of tropical water sitting on the gallery floor, almost as though the artist had magically removed a sample of water and frozen it in time. These ‘ocean studies’ included rectangular castings with beautifully polished sides, glassy wind-blown surfaces, and sandy bottoms that reflect the granulated ridges of the marine floor. Each of the luminescent colours captured the varying shades of blue-green water one might see on a sunny day off the shores of our Islands. As a compliment to the clean, almost minimalist nature of the solid glass castings, the exhibition also included installations like Death of Ajax, a multifarious work that speaks to a significant aspect of Caymanian history — the twilight years of our turtling industry.
Working with glass for several years, Ebanks has taken a keen interest in the duality of the art form, which, much like the water he imitates, undergoes a series of physical transformations during the technical working process. Commenting on his technique and the show’s theme, Ebanks stated, “more and more my work seems to deal with new ways of viewing my environment and the patterns found there, patterns in the waves, sand, coral, clouds, and shoreline. For me this is the major theme in my work — Cayman’s natural environment and how it shapes my personal and cultural identity. As an artist you work with what you know and a personal exploration of those themes, if they ring true to the audience, is how you find your voice. And, if I can prompt the audience to look at things a little differently or ask questions of the work (and perhaps themselves) then I feel I’ve been successful.”
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About the Artist
Davin Ebanks
b. 1975
Born in Grand Cayman, Davin Ebanks acquired a BA in Graphic Design at Anderson University, Indiana, and an MFA in Glass Sculpture at Kent State University, Ohio. He has been artist-in-residence at Jacksonville University and Anderson University, and has taught at New York’s Urban Glass (the first and largest glass studio in the United States) at Kent State University and at Salisbury University. He won The McCoy Prize for Fine Craft in 2003 and NGCI’s 2012 Public Sculpture competition. Ebanks was one of four Caymanian artists to be recognized in A-Z of Caribbean Art (Robert & Christopher Publishers: 2019), a landmark survey of contemporary art from the Caribbean region and its diaspora. His work is included in the permanent collections of NGCI and the Cayman Islands National Museum, and has been displayed at the Glass Art Society’s Annual Conference and in numerous NGCI exhibitions, including: Blue Meridian (solo show, 2010–11), The Persistence of Memory (2011), Luminescent Forms (2014), tIDal Shift: Explorations of Identity in Contemporary Caymanian Art (2015), All Access (2015), Upon the Seas (2017), Revive: Contemporary Caymanian Craft (2017), Cross Currents – 1st Cayman Islands Biennial (2019), Saltwater in Their Veins (2020) and The People’s Collection: A 25-Year Cultural Legacy (2022).
