Vivien
Vivien is one of a series of photographic compositions through which the artist illustrates the continued influence of the marine environment in the forging of Caymanian identity. Born at the turn of the millenium, Saunders is an artist whose experience is several generations removed from the Islands’great seafaring tradition, but who nevertheless feels this connection keenly. Drawing inspiration from Caymanian history, popular culture, and folklore — as referenced by the title of this series, Osiris, which is drawn from the Egyptian afterlife myth — these startling hybrid portraits blend fiction and reality, reflecting an entirely new generation of young Caymanians and their evolving relationship to the surrounding ocean.
About the Artist
Brandon Saunders
b. 2000
Brandon Saunders is a young Caymanian artist currently studying for his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in the UK. One of the main preoccupations of his practice is to upend and subvert traditional genres such as portraiture, where he reconfigures works from the canon of Western art through a series of creative interventions. Although a great amount of his time is dedicated to working with digital media, Saunders’ methods both respect and honour traditional techniques and try to incorporate them into his own artistic production. Saunders’ work was featured at NGCI in the exhibitions Upon the Seas (2017) and Cross Currents – 1st Cayman Islands Biennial (2019), where he won runner-up for the Emerging Artist Award.
