'Strange energy' inspires Merrique's new collection

Ozy Merrique's new clooection Crownland will open at Grundlos Kollektiv, Cipriani Boulevard, Port of Spain, on Thursday.
Ozy Merrique's new clooection Crownland will open at Grundlos Kollektiv, Cipriani Boulevard, Port of Spain, on Thursday.

Ozy Merrique's career has spanned many spheres of the creative arts. From his explosive emergence onto the music scene in the 90s as the foundation for the rapso group Homefront, to his enigmatic poetry and writings, to his fantastical artwork, it seems there is little that he has not examined and made his own.

No matter in what form his creativity manifests, it carries a strong sense of individuality, revealing his unique mind and talents. His vibrant paintings depict scenes both alien and familiar in nature, figures both distinct and blended into a form of purposeful abstractionism, said a media release.

This "strange energy" has served as partial inspiration for Merrique's latest collection, Crownsland. "He describes this as a journey of discovery, asking questions like: what is the role that these energies, or as he calls them, vibrations, play in the human psyche," the release said.

The work “started off as a question, really, he said. "First I wondered aloud what part frequencies play in human lives. How do these frequencies affect our moods, actions, personalities, spiritualities?”

As musician, poet, thinker painter, human, Merrique has a deep interest and involvement in African sacred science, especially the phenomenon of manifestation, the dance of the gods. Through this exploration he has sought to understand how these and other vibrations affect both this world and what he believes is the plane beyond it – and Crownsland is perhaps a way to confront them, engage them, guide them and integrate them into the pieces that he has created.

“I know how frequencies of riddim, voice and movement would vibrate gods into being on this plane," he said. "So I wondered if our modern world, with its electric light, concrete and asphalt, cellphones and satellites, affects how we interact with spirit. How spirit interacts with us."

Crownsland and forthcoming works will utilise other media such as music, poetry and film as Merrique continues to explore these underlying anxieties of this part of the world.

“Location. Belonging, legacies, ownership. These are the main questions I am asking in the work. What made Mother Earth leave town and walk naked in the Toco bush? What was gained and lost and stolen? This is the journey as I understand it so far. These are the works which so far emerged.”

Crownsland opens Thursday at Grundlos Kollektiv, 11 Cipriani Boulevard, Port of Spain at 5.30 pm and runs till June 6.

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"‘Strange energy’ inspires Merrique’s new collection"

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