The Art Thursday Exhibitions

M.A. Dworkin

As if it’s not enough of a beautiful experience to walk along the streets of Christiansted, on the third Thursday of the month during the season, and immerse yourself into the sixteen wonderful galleries that are part of the Art Thursday experience, now comes two of those galleries that are opening exciting new exhibitions to add to  art patron’s playbill.

Cane Roots Art Gallery

At Cane Roots Art Gallery, the exquisitely curated show by Cane Roots proprietor Sonia Deane, BEADS, FABRIC & SILHOUETTES; Generational Synergy, is a stunning display of how two artists, very different in their approach to art, can fill a gallery space with warmth, tenderness and curiosity. 

The utterly remarkable octogenarian, the Priestess of Joy, Elisa McKay, a self taught artist, has been applying her incredible imagination and sensual touch to canvases for decades. Her art focuses on wonderful colors that exemplify the joy of life, colors that surround and clothe children and adults in a way that is near-magical in her artistic execution. It is impossible to pass by any of her paintings without being drawn into her Caribbean world of magical surrealism. Children dancing around the globe of the Sun; Playing with kites in an open field; Families celebrating the wonders of life; Mysteries of ancestors sashaying before the St. Croix ruins of days gone by, are all ripe for Ms. McKay’s whimsical imagination.

These glorious images, presented by this ageless, multi-talented woman of the world, are served up as a present to all. These are the gifts she has garnered from a life well-lived; a beautiful, graceful lady who believes that it is her duty to pass on her love and her happiness to the rest of us.

At the other end of the artist’s palette, so to speak, emerges Pedra D. Chaffers, an artist who has been immersed in art for the greater part of her life but seems to have found her real passion in making exquisite works from her exposure to the beads used in African Art. 

“I envisioned a way of working with beads that did not involve sewing,” Ms. Chaffers told the St. Croix Times. “Creating my own method to explore and display beads as a medium was the initial challenge. The technique I have created is ideal for my on-going exploration of form and design in this beautiful yet minute media.” 

Having lived in St. Croix for over ten years, she became enamored with the vibrancy and richness of her tropical surroundings,

“The tradition of Carnival with its West African roots resonated with my continuing interest in the art traditions of that part of the world,” Ms. Chaffers said. “The ornate masks, costumes, and pageantry kept my imagination engaged and provided motivation for my work today. I continue to use the light and colors of the tropics as inspiration to create the vividness and energy in my compositions.”

Her education at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, and the Studio Museum in Harlem gave her in-depth exposure to various African beadwork traditions.

“It was not until I saw beads in African Art, specifically the beadwork traditions of the Yoruba people, that I became interested in beads as a material in my work. The combination of light and color captured by these tiny objects was very attractive. The power and possibility of beads was informed by the knowledge I gained about their meaning and significance in Yoruba culture.”

When you look at these tiny masterpieces of beadwork art, which are all beadwork snapshots of faces in various poses, it is amazing how quickly you are drawn into their expressions, as if they are pictures of people’s faces that tell what they are about, what they are feeling, why they appear to be, in many of the works, staring back at you, wondering what you might be thinking about them. There are snapshots of portraits that are happy, sad, pensive, contemplative, disturbed by the world, amazed by the world, beaten down by the world. Eyes that are clever, secretive, relieved, all-knowing, exotic, alien. 

Ms. Chaffers has created a wonderful display of all things minute, of all things beads, as if there is a Bead-World alive and teeming with wild-eyed thoughts and abstract expressions way beyond the known world. And it is an exciting world to be able to be more than a fly-on-the-wall in observance, because in an odd-sense, we become a person who is able to somehow communicate with these beads, in a similar way that humans communicate with plants.

Beads, Fabric & Silhouettes runs thru April 17, 2025 at Cane Roots Art Gallery, 

24 Company St., Christiansted. 340-718-4929 

Joyia Inspirational Jewelry

As if a new island has suddenly formed in the Caribbean Ocean, a new art gallery has sprung up at Joyia Inspirational Jewelry at their wonderful new space on Company Street in C’sted. The current Artist-In-Residence is Victoria “Vicky” Rundberg-Rivera, M.D, who is an emerging self-taught artist. 

Ms. Rivera may technically be considered “emerging” only because of her slight history of exhibitions, but make no doubt, this long-time woodworker, art educator, has the eye and creative talents of some of the greats. Her work is startling to say the least. She is a master of color and expression. Her works drill their way into your mind and shake you until you surrender, forcing you to enter her world of faces that are so real, so scary, so beautiful that you cannot help but remember them long after you have left Joyia’s space. 

In Ascendant, acrylic/canvas, we see the brilliance of this artist. This perfect tiny, angular face, this mass of curly hair, the blotch of colors swirling around her as she stares out at you with her Mona Lisa look. She is mystifying. She is unforgettable.

Infinity, artist-enhanced giclee (acrylic)/ canvas, is another face that is hard to forget. But in an entirely different way. She almost looks like a young Jim Morrison from the Doors staring out at you, plotting a revolution or some conquest. There is a bit of a bitter, mean look and yet a look that you can’t resist. What mischief can we get into now? 

Lavender Dreams, artist-enhanced giclee (acrylic, metallic acrylic)/canvas, jolts you to the other end of life’s spectrum. So calm, so peaceful is this precious young lady. She knows her world. She loves her life. She is content but knowingly alive. You could speak a thousand words to her and never shake her from her lovely dream. And why would you want to disturb her perfect state of contentment?

“My intention is to lift other creatives and showcase their art,” Joyia told the St. Croix Times. “I believe this is a great space to do just that.”

During season there will be an Artist-in-Residence Exhibition every month at Joyia Inspirational Jewelry, 2209 Queen Cross St. Christiansted. 340-713-4569