The Soul Who Raised Us
Thematically Jackson’s abstract painting counterposes the maritime experience of all-male crews at sea with female-led gatherings at home, which the artist depicts here in a combination of creamy skin tones and navy blue. By questioning established gender roles – with Caymanian women called upon to perform all manner of tasks coded as ‘male’ and men at sea conversely responsible for feeding themselves, repairing clothes and maintaining an ordered environment – Jackson challenges us to rethink our preconceived notions of the duality of male and female experience in Caymanian society.
About the Artist
John Reno Jackson
b. 1995
John Reno Jackson is an emerging contemporary Caymanian painter. He attended foundation courses in painting and drawing at the London Art Academy in 2015. Since then, he has continued his painterly explorations through a series of abstract works made in Grand Cayman. Jackson has exhibited at Paulo – PADA Studios in Barreiro, Portugal, where he attended an artist’s residency in 2020, and at Artisan Space in London, UK. His work is in the permanent collection of NGCI, where it was featured in the exhibitions Island of Women: Life at Home During Our Maritime Years (2020), Reimagined Futures – 2nd Cayman Islands Biennial (2021) and The People’s Collection – A 25-Year Cultural Legacy (2022).
