Cayman Art Week 2026 wrapped up on 31 May with a few last events including ‘In conversations with Keri Elaine & John Reno Jackson at Hotel Indigo’. The talk, held in the Catalina Lounge, was both intimate and stimulating – as well as delicious.
Facilitated by Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman Marketing Manager Camila Pantin, Keri Lawrence – who uses the artist name Keri Elaine – and Jackson shared insights into their creative processes. Guests were also invited to enjoy pastries created by Hotel Indigo’s Pastry Chef, Alisa Ali, which reflected each artist’s works.
Inspirations
The event started with Pantin sharing a bit more about each of the local artists with the audience. Jackson is a Caymanian painter who studied at Slade School of Fine Art and received his MA in painting from the Royal College of Art, London, and has exhibited in the National Gallery and internationally. His most recent solo exhibition was “Disappearing Sun” at the Tern Gallery in Bahamas.
Lawrence is a multidisciplinary artist celebrated for transforming public spaces with vibrant, large-scale murals. Her work spans from street art to canvas pieces and digital creations and can be found across Cayman in various locations.
Both artists had works on display at the hotel. Lawrence’s murals can be found in the restaurants Pom Pom and Milkberry. A pop-up of her other works was also on display as part of Cayman Art Week.
Jackson had been commissioned early in the design process of the hotel. One of his large abstract pieces titled “Elise, 2023”, is an integral part of the guest experience as they enter the main part of the hotel.
Commenting on his inspiration for the commission pieces, Jackson said had been greatly inspired by the Caymanian artist Bendel Hydes. “I loved how he was very publicly abstract – he didn’t try to be traditional,” he said.
Lawrence said that she was greatly influenced by her aunt, who painted murals in the past in Cayman and that she strives to create art from a Caymanian’s perspective.
“Hopefully it’s an insight not only to how beautiful Cayman can be but … I also hope that if a person spends some time with it, they can try to enter our minds somehow,” she said.
Evolving as artists
Jackson said that he felt that his work is constantly evolving because he’s changed his approach over the past few years.
“I really simplified the language down. I went overseas to college, and my professors told me they didn’t see what I was talking about [regarding Cayman] in my work. “At first, I was really insulted,” he said, “but it made me think about … culture. My approach shifted to what kind of materials am I using”. Jackson started to incorporate sand and construction-based materials into his works.
He added, “These days I’m looking at … how we build things, how our buildings are built, how can that relate to the visual language that I like to utilise. I’m also investigating ceramics.”
Lawrence said she doesn’t stick to one thing as she likes to explore. “I like the idea of surrealism and having the imagination go somewhere. I like the work to look beautiful and have a weird quirk to it, but I also want there to be something more than that. I’m giving something about Cayman,” she said.
When asked if they thought people consume Caribbean imagery without really engaging with the reality’s underneath it, Jackson responded immediately.
“One hundred percent,” he said. “I mean, it’s not their fault. I think they are sold an idea – I think predominantly most of our tourists are … sold this beautiful idea. It’s a dangerous thing because they may not understand the full context.”
Jackson also stressed that it’s the responsibility of artists to inform them, and that Hotel Indigo did a really good job through the choices of artwork in the hotel, referring to two large pieces in Catalina that showcased the first female pilot and officer at Cayman Airways.
Food as art
Lawrence and Jackson touched on many other elements of their work, engaging the audience but also exploring key themes around being an artist in Cayman and what it meant for them to create works that were meaningful and impactful.
As the event wrapped up, Chef Ali shared more about the pastries she and her team created.
“It’s been fun – an incredible collaboration,” she said. “On meeting Keri, we decided that the art piece or pastries will be based off fishermen, but then also other pieces emerged. With John Reno, he said he liked matcha, so we incorporated it into the pastries.”
The pastries indeed reflected the artists’ works with a table set up to properly showcase each. Some were so intricately detailed or executed that it was hard to believe they were edible including ‘paintings’ of Jackson’s work made of white chocolate, and representing Lawrence’s work, a chocolate fudge cake that showed not only a lighthouse, but also an underwater scene as well.
Both Lawrence’s and Jackson’s pieces can be viewed at Hotel Indigo as part of their permanent collection. Unfortunately, Chef Ali and her team’s creations cannot be viewed, as they were consumed and enjoyed by the guests.
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