SANCTUARY

3 Channel Video Installation

Duration: 10 Minutes

Elizabeth Paige Smith’s video installation presents a contemplative reflection on the meaning of sanctuary under siege. Through a triadic lens, we focus on the island’s most cherished elements: the Sun, the Sea and the Matriarch.

These eternal forces serve as metaphorical pillars in support of Ms Reba, the vessel for the archetype of the matriarch. The juxtaposition of the Sun and the Sea imagery to the introspective profile of Ms Reba plaiting, presents a complex visual relationship to the human and the divine nature. The environment and the interplay of her movements are authentically captured, unstaged. This piece speaks to vulnerability, longevity and impermanence of the island and its people through a mesmerizing lens, indicative of Smith’s intimate relationship with the subject matter.

Additionally presented through kaleidoscopic representations, Smith focuses on an architectural treasure along with the endangered blue iguana. Both are reminders that every aspect of Cayman existence struggles to survive as they are threatened by development and the encroachment into their natural habitat. The method of Smith’s storytelling engages as the imagery ebbs and flows in and out of a state of lucidity. The visual content unfolds, mirrors and reflects, drawing focus into the beauty of the details in an unfettered, improvisational manner while the spacial soundscape carries the viewer through an immersive journey.

This work serves as a relic of a first hand observation of the parallels of plaiting and the construct of our values. Cayman’s native silver thatch palm leaves, once a plentiful resource used in the form of woven rope, was highly sought after for trade and survival; it is now endangered. Likewise, the island was sought after as a sanctuary and an environmentally wealthy resource from the onset of its discovery, and is now losing the offerings it once provided. Ms Reba, and others like her who weave in the traditional method, struggles to preserve this heritage of historical importance. In her effort, she maintains and carries the essence of what is described as Cayman Kind.

Smith offers the opportunity to consider ourselves as intrinsic participants to evolving societal development. This work was created in hopes to broaden our individual participation as protectors of the very environment that weaves us together. The viewer is invited to contemplate the idea that we as a people are ultimately the guardians of the sensitive eco-system that we occupy.