By Cayman Compass Contributor Christopher Tobutt
The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands is hosting ‘A Story in Symbols’, a landmark exhibition featuring works by Cayman-based artists spanning more than three decades. Curated by Arabella Stocker, the show is a vibrant meditation on the symbolic crystallisation of Caymanian identity.
Running through 3 Sept., ‘A Story in Symbols‘ is an exploration of Caymanian cultural iconography, symbols, and emblems,” Stocker says in a posted curator’s statement. “It considers the ways in which these integral motifs play a role in framing the Cayman Islands’ national identity. Taking these familiar elements as a starting point, the exhibition unpacks them further, reflecting on the way in which they are woven into the fabric of Caymanian society.”
National emblems – such as the banana orchid, silver thatch palm and Cayman parrot – are reinterpreted through diverse media, styles and personal narratives.
Horacio Esteban’s ‘Cayman Catboat’ (2019), sculpted in Caymanite, anchors the exhibition in both material and meaning. The stone itself – unique to the Cayman Islands – embodies the permanence of tradition, while the form recalls the enduring legacy of seafaring life.
Larisa Sved’s ‘Lady with the Thatch Rope’ (2020) pays homage to traditional crafts. Her depiction of a Caymanian woman twisting thatch speaks to the quiet resilience of cultural preservation.
One of the most striking collaborative pieces is ‘O Land of Soft Fresh Breezes’ (2025), a mixed-media work by Marc Laurenson of Stoak’d and Ronald ‘Foots’ Kynes. Constructed from reclaimed materials – including green-painted driftwood washed ashore near Foots’ home on Cayman Brac and a gold-coloured window frame – the piece reimagines Cayman’s Coat of Arms through a lens of personal and socio-political memory.
Laurenson’s ‘Cayman Parrot’ (2020) is composed entirely of postage stamps – each one a pixel in a larger mosaic.
“We buy the stamps locally from Ivan Burges at Black Penny,” Laurenson says. “They’ve all been sent to Cayman, so they carry a piece of our history. When you’re up close, you just see stamps. But step back, and the image comes alive.”
He adds, “The idea with making recycled Cayman artwork is to represent Cayman culture and put it in the forefront.”
Joanne Sibley’s luminous oil painting of George Town’s waterfront in the 1990s pulses with life. Sunlight and shadow dance across the canvas, inviting viewers to step into the scene and engage with the bustling street.
Iain MacRae’s bold floral portraits, ‘Thomsoniana’ and ‘Minor’, offer stylised interpretations of Cayman’s endemic orchids.
“These flowers are our national flowers and a national symbol of Cayman,” MacRae says. “I mix Cayman beach sand into all my paints. I work like a child — I paint what I want, when I want, and how I want.”
In his work, each fragile petal is framed by strong, bold black outlines – a wonderful metaphor for collective national identity.
In ‘Founded Upon the Seas’ by Janine Every, a lone fisherman floats quietly in his wooden rowboat. His fishing rod transforms into a cornucopia of Cayman’s natural symbols: parrots, a blue iguana and golden mangoes. The use of white negative space fills the viewer with a sense of brilliant light.
‘A Story in Symbols’ is more than an art exhibition – it’s a collective act of remembrance and reimagining. Through brushstrokes, sculpture and collage, the featured artists invite us to see the Cayman Islands not just as a place, but as a living story.
Christopher Tobutt is a freelance journalist who has written for various publications in the Cayman Islands since 2003.
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