Premiering in the Dart Auditorium Community Gallery, the National Gallery of the Cayman Islands (NGCI) and the Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) are proud to collaborate on a celebratory showcase of works by one of Cayman’s most prolific pioneering artists, Gladwyn K. ‘Miss Lassie’ Bush. ‘Miss Lassie: An Intuitive Spirit’, presents a small selection of the 157 artworks manged by CNCF that comprise the ‘Gladwyn K. Bush Collection’. Formally a part of the wider National Collection, which is jointly overseen by the Islands’ three leading national cultural organisations, her works are held in trust by CNCF for the people of the Cayman Islands.
A fourth-generation Caymanian, Miss Lassie’s artistic practice began at the age of 62, following what she described as a transformational ‘visionary experience’. With the emergence of this newfound creative inspiration, Miss Lassie emblazoned everything in her wattle and daub cottage with characteristically vibrant blends cultural and religious imagery. Her ‘markings’, as she referred to her work, as well as her spontaneous handling of materials are executed in a naïve style reflecting her status as an intuitive, self-taught artist. Conveying powerful sentiments with a simplicity and directness of approach, the assortment of works on display act as visual diaries that illustrate the inherently autobiographical nature of her visual repertoire and reveal a life defined by emotional depth and spiritual truth.
In the face of a rapidly changing environmental, social, and cultural landscape, Miss Lassie: An Intuitive Spirit embraces the artist’s prevailing legacy and timeless messages encoded in the artist’s bountiful oeuvre. Celebrating the festive season and the passage of a new year, the featured artworks bear witness to the artist’s intuitive spirit and universal messages of hope, faith and resilience—highlighting the power of our community and inspiring renewed optimism for the future.
This exhibition is one of several ways that CNCF and NGCI are collaborating to conserve, research and share the visionary work and memory of an artist who is considered a National Cultural Treasure. Miss Lassie: An Intuitive Spirit can be viewed alongside a second collaborative exhibition of her works due to premier at the ‘Mind’s Eye Centre’. CNCF offers guided tours of Mind’s Eye – The Visionary World of Miss Lassie by appointment from 15 December 2022.
Miss Lassie: An Intuitive Spirit is now open to the public and admission to the Gallery and the exhibition is free. Opening times are Monday to Saturday 10:00am – 5:00pm. For more information about the exhibition and the related programme of free events, lectures, workshops and tours please email Maia Muttoo, Education Manager, at education@nationalgallery.org.ky or visit https://www.nationalgallery.org.ky/whats-on/ .