Exhibition ‘Hari den kas i yora den kushina’

Laugh in the house, cry in the kitchen is on a shelf above the kitchen door in Manola Sint Iago’s house.

It is a saying from her childhood in the Antilles where she grew up.

The work of Sint Iago is about the longing for this earlier time, about the colors and people from her youth. And about the loss of her mother whom she never knew.

As an autodidact, Sint Iago developed a distinct, recognizable style. She portrays friends and family in bright colours. Clear shapes delineated by black lines are placed on the canvas as templates. In oil, acrylic, Indian ink and mixed media. The exuberant atmosphere of her works is optimistic, but hides a downside that the artist knows well; she paints to cope with her depressions. At the same time, she also uses these depressions to make expressive work. It gives her energy and strength. Or as she puts it herself: “I have gone from chronically ill to chronically creative”.

In addition to paintings, this exhibition also includes jewellery, painted wooden panels and vases.