Artist Aston Ebanks explains the beauty of art at a lecture series held at Cayman Brac Heritage House.

An Art Lecture Series was held at Cayman Brac Heritage House on Saturday, 26 July in association with the National Gallery Art weekend for Cayman Brac. Conducting the lecture series was renowned artist extraordinaré Aston Ebanks who also captured the McCoy Prize in 2005 after entering for the second time and winning the ‘fine art’ category. He believes he is a conceptual artist with his work stimulating the thoughts of people, but the end result is fulfilling the individual needs by what is portrayed.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica on 6 September 1974 to parents Margaret and Truman Ebanks, he returned to the Cayman Islands before the age of one and has called Cayman home for the past 26 years. He moved to Switzerland in 1997, and it was during this time that he spawned, what he considered at the time, to be a passing interest in photography, which became a passionate hobby.

Mr Ebanks spent the next seven years moving between the islands and his new home in Switzerland, teaching himself the art form, refining his talent, while defining himself through educational advancement. In December of 2005 Mr Ebanks officially moved back to Cayman with wife Tanja and son Lenny Roar. They now have a daughter Kaya Zoey.

The lecture series completed the art camp held earlier in the day where the Brac children explored the avenues of fine art and creating art pieces from debris found on the beach. “Art should spark debate, conversation and stimulate the minds of those viewing the varied pieces of work,” he said. The lecture also highlighted some of the work he has been doing over the years; paintings, photographs and documentary about his life. He mentioned that his career began with photography before he branched out into other areas. Some of his pictures today are transferred to canvas, a developing trend in the industry.

Mr Ebanks said some of the pieces he made are named after they have been completed, as then he states it is easier to identify things through an artistic persona, which the natural eye would not see unless the person is in that framework. What he remembers vividly is some of the photos he took of the beautiful Cayman Islands, but was left in awe after the passing of Hurricane Ivan. He took photographs of the same locations and came to the realization that nature can change the form of something beautiful.

He said that art is about individual perception, as what one person considers as a wonderful work of art may not be considered to be the same by others. “What I love about the Cayman Islands is the scene of discovery. I find it very interesting to travel the Islands and discover an artistic ornament that has never been identified anywhere else in the world.

“I try to do a lot of video installation, most of which I am experimenting with. You can incorporate all the facets of art in a film and that is why an artist should not limit himself.”

Mr Ebanks continues to work with the National Gallery as an outreach instructor at H.M Prison, Caribbean Heaven and the Bonaventure Boys Home. He has organized and hosted the 2006/07 National Gallery ‘Eco Art’ Party and was part of the National Gallery’s 2007 Art Fair where he designed the tent section. He also works with a group of children ‘Generation Next’ through a series of camps during Easter and summer. The emphasis of these camps is expressing the love of the environment through art and instilling in the participants that they have the power to dictate the sort of future they want for themselves and the environment.

He also holds the position of assistant secretary of the ‘Cayman Islands Beautification Committee’; their charter is to make the Cayman Islands ‘Cleaner and Greener’, which is something he takes very seriously. “The public is slowly adopting the whole concept of art and I will devote my efforts to the educational aspect of things in ensuring that art has its place in society,” said Mr Ebanks.