Ancestral Threads Lifts the Spirits at Cane Roots

   Ancestral Threads Lifts 

  the Spirits at Cane Roots

M.A. Dworkin

     St. Croix - If you are not afraid to dig too deeply into your past, peel off the layers of your age-old psyche, take a magnifying glass back through your time here on earth, all for the sake of finding out what really makes you tick, what really built you into the type of person you have become, you just might find yourself becoming a sort of  navigator into your own soul, a psychic explorer of a kind, who believes it is important to plumb the depths of one’s life, scooping out all those hidden little pockets of good and evil, and turning a critical eye onto it all, for the sake of coming up with some new revelations about your existence. If you are capable of performing such a trick of consciousness juggling, than you might be able to understand, on a more intimate level, just what Victoria “Vicky” Rundberg-Rivera, MD, has put on canvas in her stirring new solo show Ancestral Threads that recently opened at Cane Roots Art Gallery in Christiansted, St. Croix.

     Vicky Rundberg-Rivera has indeed taken such an arduous journey through her art. She has delved into the depths of all that is sacred and untouchable in her being, all that is disturbing, all that is calm, all that is beautiful, during much of her lifetime, and she has presented it on canvas for all the world to see. Ancestral Threads has the gut-punch of an earth-moving machine as it digs deeper and deeper into the sacred grounds we call our past.

     Two-Spirit and Two-Spirit II mixed media on wrapped canvas enhanced by giclee, Shocks you into the admission that there may very well be two sides to your personality - half male, half female. You may indeed be looking at the world through bifocals that automatically switch gender perspectives depending on what you are seeing, hearing, feeling about the life around you. The colors she uses in these two portraits slap you around while grilling you to define what you are actually feeling. What does she think about me? Does she like me? Does she hate me? Are we friends? Are we enemies? 

     In Rebel, acrylic on canvas Artist-enhanced giclee, We find a woman we do not want to cross. She can kill you with a single glance. Cure you with a touch. She wipes out any resistance you may have to her rough and handsome appearance when you begin to hold her in esteem for the way she has survived in this beast of a world. Upon further examination, you realize she is the epitome of earthly wisdom, a rough-hewn version of Mother-Earth, the woman you want on your side no matter what wrongs you are about to lay down, because you know in your heart she has been through it all, she and she alone will forgive and lead the way to rebirth.

     Bambula Queens, acrylic on wrapped canvas, Here is the history that opened the door to the Virgin Islands 1878 rebellion and march to freedom. Here is Fire Burn. Here is the spirit of Mary, Agnes, Mathilda and General Buddhoe blowing the conch, setting the old world on fire, allowing the Bamboula Dancers to survive throughout the ages, to guide our way into a brave new world, a world that is capable of dragging our history into the present and holding our heads up high: Yes, we have survived. And we have thrived! We dance to our victory!     

     Self-Portrait, acrylic on clayboard, recycled wood frame, Here we see the artist with her back turned, we hear her words:

Soledad (Loneliness)

Empty voices

Final Choices

Endless abyss of despair

Separate pathways

Leading elsewhere

Why can’t you pretend to care?

Everytime the mirror answers

Everytime the silence screams

Soundless words forever uttered

Words of madness in my dreams

     Victoria Rundberg-Rivera, the artist as explorer, as navigator, allowing the spirits of her past to lead her back to face that which terrified her, that which tried to destroy her, that which allowed her to rebuild herself. To once again stand tall and proud and shout: I am still here! I am still here!

     Tranquility, acrylic on wrapped canvas, And here she lightly blows, the calm tradewinds from the East, finding a safe harbor, at rest for the moment. There can be no more tranquil setting than what Vicky has laid down. We are at rest. We have survived and earned the right to view this picture of beauty and peace. We have fought hard, sometimes without rest. But Vicky’s colors gently slip us into our well-deserved sleep. And yet, there is no real rest for an artist of her measure, who has spent a lifetime of  asking: What’s next? Who knows what tomorrow brings? Where will my past lead me?

     Sonia Nahar Deane’s Cane Roots Art Gallery has become known for presenting exhibitions that challenge the status quo, shake up the mind, by featuring artists that do not shy away from exploring the underside of the conscious mind. This delightful and insightful lady has become the Grand Dame of the Arts on St. Croix. Sonia Deane, almost single-handedly, has helped redefine the art scene on STX. Ms. Deane, along with Lisa Mordhorst at CMCArts, have propelled the Big Island’s small goldmine of an artistic community, with its treasure trove of artistic talent, to become the stand-out premier artistic destination in the Caribbean.      

     Ancestral Threads closes April 10, 2026.

Cane Roots Art Gallery, 24 Company Street, Christiansted, 340-718-4929