JEWEL CASTRO

Artist’s Statement:

TALES OF A FISHERMAN II, is part of my ASSIMILATION SERIES of paintings. The series focuses on the assimilation choices my family members made when they came to the United States mainland from Samoa and American Samoa during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. TALES OF A FISHERMAN II is the second painting in the series that I dedicated to the life of my Uncle Keneti. The first painting, TALES OF A FISHERMAN I, focused on his youth. It was a collage of his childhood in the islands, and his choice to join the U.S. Marine Corps. during the war in Vietnam. In ancient times, Uncle Keneti would have been a leader in his community, and most likely a warrior. So his choice to become a warrior in the U.S. would seem a logical path to realizing family tradition in a new homeland. To be sure, his joining the Marine Corps., seemed to help the entire family feel more, American. Uncle Keneti returned from Vietnam three times. He received 3 purple hearts.

TALES OF A FISHERMAN II, jumps ahead in his story to current times. It celebrates, “The Bull,” and his respected presence in our family. It celebrates his great efforts as a single parent, and his love of a grandson who is named after him. The hanging uniform speaks of his pride and how the residue of war lurks near a soldier for the rest of a lifetime. Like a viper, its always ready to strike and deliver new wars to fight; wars that prevent a person from working regular jobs for fear that they could lose their VA benefits. And this piece demonstrates the happy thanks that the U.S. government provides my uncle for the power and blood he repeatedly spent for them: a duffle bag for a home; which by the way, he has never once complained about.

Bio:

Jewel Castro is a Samoan/Danish/American visual artist who creates paintings and multimedia installations about Samoan identity. Her work was recently exhibited at the Peabody Essex Museum as part of the Pacific Art Association International Symposium, and at NYU as part of the “Coming of Age in Amelika,” exhibition held in conjunction with their Pacific Islands/Atlantic Worlds symposium. Castro has a keen interest in iconography and looks for ways to manipulate that form into celebrations of Samoan ancestors, living elders, indigenous history and its gender aspects, and to give voice to Samoan contemporary issues. She is interested in blending aspects of Pacific art forms with her Western European art education. “The texture and appearance of my paintings is influenced by the texture of siapo (Samoan bark cloth) and the application and patterning of tattoo images. I like the unevenness of siapo and how wet media resists and absorbs on that sort of surface. And considering the application of pigment to siapo and skin, I am interested in staining an image deep into the fibers of fabric rather than painting them on top of it. My installations are environments that simulate architecture and landscape, with the notion of being inside and outside at the same time. I use objects, sound, lights, and scent to communicate a story visually and by way of the other senses.” Her research includes Oceanic history, contemporary issues, and migration as it relates to cultural identification. She was born in Chicago, raised in San Diego, and has worked as a commercial artist in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Seattle. She has a BA in Drawing and Painting from San Diego State University and an MFA in Visual Arts from the University of California San Diego, where she was a San Diego Fellow. She currently teaches studio art courses at Mesa College and MiraCosta College in San Diego county.

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