Through the Hurricane
The predictions couldn’t have been more dire this past week as Hurricane Melissa closed in on Jamaica and its island neighbors. It was a category 5, the worst of the year and for Jamaica, the worst in recorded history. I have several Jamaican friends and neighbors, as well as friends with family there. Many people were stuck here, unable to get home to their loved ones. The New York City area has about 218,000 Jamaican residents. The whole Jamaican community both here and there was preparing for the worst and praying like mad as the massive storm approached.
Yet these islanders have a way about them that enables them to ride things out. They’ve been through hurricanes before. I’ve never been to Jamaica, but I still feel the vibe of the culture, with its tropical joie de vivre – handed down, it seems to me, from their ancestors in Africa. Having spent several months of my life in the very parts of West Africa from which slaves were deported, I can feel the concordance between the two cultures.
Jamaicans seem generally more able than we uptight mainlanders to take life as it comes, and to enjoy it along the way. I love that quality in the Jamaican people; somehow it’s expressed in their unique accent that softens words, and carries a hint of affection. Their families are closely knit, their communities strong, and their spirits resilient. As of this writing, only 4 people died in Jamaica as a result of the hurricane. With roads flooded, roofs blown off, coastlines destroyed and trees uprooted, this is far better than anticipated. Jamaicans are resourceful. They will recover. They can rebuild their homes. Hurricane Melissa left an immense amount of destruction in her wake, and many months of work to be done. People have suffered devastating losses – but it is only precious lives lost that can never be replaced, and for this my Jamaican friends have heaved a big sigh of relief.
Watching the news through the hurricane, I tried to imagine the homes of my friends and all their loved ones surrounded in white light. This crystallized into this tonal sketch. I used black and white acrylic paint on grey paper – a technique that allows me to paint both darker and lighter than the middle tone. The grey paper seemed like the perfect background for the dark turbulence in the sky, and for the angel to shine in contrast.
As the angel began to take shape, suddenly I realized she resembles an ancient Greek figurine I saw at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston just a few weeks ago. This little statue really made an impression on me:
At first I thought she was Venus – but no, she is Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, carved in the 1st century CE. She is accompanied by a goose, symbolizing her ability to fly to other realms, and to display both affection and watchfulness (geese make amazing watchdogs). Many times I’ve gazed at this photo, wishing to internalize the elegant little goddess, that she might re-emerge in my art. Once I soak up an image, I wait for the right opportunity to bring it into my art. It must be the right subject and technique – a confluence of content and form. This usually takes a few months, but it can be longer or shorter.
And here she was, offering herself just a few weeks later as the perfect angel to spread her sheltering wings over this humble home. As the hurricane rips and claws above like a wild beast, she moves and sways with the wind, her cool serenity protecting the house.
This moving and swaying and shifting of weight is what gives the Greek figurine human pathos and feminine appeal. Though a tilted head and an asymmetrical, relaxed stance hardly seem revolutionary to our modern eyes, this was one of the ground-breaking elements that first brought humanism – that is, human free will, emotion, and earthly experience – into Renaissance art. The artists of the Renaissance looked back in time 1500 years to before the Middle Ages, to classical Greek and Roman art, and brought it forward into the future, giving birth to expressive painting as we know it today.
I get a kick out of pondering this. Thanks to this ancient goddess who transmutes through time, and this beauteous angel who manifested here, the little house in the mountains of Jamaica is still standing, the roof is intact, and the family is unharmed – for real. Thanks be to the powers that be, the hurricane has passed.
I’m turning my attention back to my other work – but I’m not done yet with Aphrodite – or rather, she’s not done with me. I can feel it. She will emerge in my art again – perhaps together with her goose. It’s only a matter of time.
A good week to all –
D. Yael Bernhard
https://dyaelbernhard.com
Have you seen my other Substack, The Art of Health? In addition to being a visual artist, I’m also a certified integrative health & nutrition coach with a lifelong passion for natural food cooking and herbal medicine. Now in its second year, this illustrated newsletter explores cutting-edge concepts of nutrition. I strive to make relevant information clear and accessible, and to anchor essential health concepts in unique images. Check it out, and if you like it, please subscribe and help spread the word. Your support keeps my work going!