by Jorge Crespo
A Contemporánea '97 installation, supported by the Greenwall Foundation and Jerome Foundation.
September 27, 1997 - January 11, 1998

Artist's Statement

Coaybay: Site of the Afterlife is a memorial to the Taíno ancestors and in particular to my grandfather, Abuelo Antonio. Although Abuelo has already passed on, his many stories continue to teach me how to live.

The canoe is the vehicle taking Abuelo to Coaybay—the ancestral place of the afterlife. The painted images make reference to ancestral Taíno teaching stories. The wooden pieces suspended over the canoe shape are carved of caoba, also known as Caribbean mahogany. The canoe shape is carved of cedro, another species native to Borikén. I feel a strange kind of kinship with these woods. I experience a deep sensation of well-being. I use them almost exclusively.

My search for the "appropriate" materials to use in my installations began in 1989. I felt very dissatisfied with the wood I was working with at the time. The pine was too soft and the hardwood suppliers could not assure me that their woods were not from deforested areas in Latin America.

As I searched for working materials I began to read about the Taíno ancestors. My grandparents mentioned them often. Learning about the woods and about the ancestors went hand in hand. At the Huntington Free Library, in the Bronx, I learned that trees often spoke to Taíno persons walking through the forest. The trees would request to be felled and even dictate the form in which they wished to be carved. The Taíno person's lifelong responsibility would then be to care for and render offerings to the transformed tree spirit.

I planned a trip to Borikén that would combine wood research with learning more about the ancestors. Although I grew up on the island I had not been there in thirteen years. I found my way to El Toro Negro rainforest in the central mountains. There, the forest rangers patiently schooled me in the properties of each species of wood. They also explained that the forests of the islands are strictly managed. Only trees that are too old to withstand hurricane winds or trees that are diseased are felled. This limited supply of precious material is made available to the island's artists and artisans. During that trip I met with some of the island's many master artisans. They also generously shared their knowledge of the woods with me.

My art has now become a way of learning and sharing what I learn with others.

Jorge Crespo August 1997