Port Scene with Container Ship
Continuing her series of watercolours depicting George Town harbour, this image clearly foregrounds the port, newly redeveloped in 1975 and a far cry from the natural landing spot that had previously served as the main entry for goods and cargo throughout the twentieth century. While previously small boats had tied up directly alongside the ironshore in George Town’s inner harbour, with larger boats forced to drop anchor and offload their cargo onto smaller vessels, Sibley portrays the new concrete pier and massive container ship that dwarfs the nearby tug and fishing vessel — a dynamic symbol of Cayman’s economic growth and prosperity.
About the Artist
Joanne Sibley
b. 1930
Joanne Sibley arrived in the Cayman Islands from Canada in 1980 after living in Jamaica, where she had established herself as a successful artist. An interior designer by trade, Sibley has a signature style highly influenced by her formal training in architectural rendering. She has become one of the Islands’ most prolific and recognisable artists and was awarded the 1995 Creativity Prize by CNCF. Her work is featured in Art of the Cayman Islands, the Islands’ first formal art history (Scala Fine Art Publishers Ltd.: Fall 2016). NGCI exhibitions include the solo show Watermarks (2005), Faces and Figures (2007), Our Story of Art (2013), Metamorphoses (2014), All Access (2015), A Legacy of Light (2016), Mediating Self (2017), Tropical Visions (2019), Seascapes: Maritime Art from the National Collection in Little Cayman (2020) at the Little Cayman Museum, Saltwater in Their Veins (2020) and The People’s Collection: A 25-Year Cultural Legacy (2022).
