Celebrating local talent: Ozy Merrique—Myth Maker

Ozy Merrique’s collection, Crown’s Land is one that he is proud of in its unified theme.

Different in many ways from his previous works, the 29 pieces together tell a story of a young man on a quest. The youth, along the way, encounters a female warrior spirit, has to gather the black honey in cave and persuade a woman who has the magical ability to transform into a bird to give up one of the golden eggs which she guards. In an interview with the Catholic News on Friday, May 31, Merrique explored the many ideas he brought to his work: the tangible and intangible spaces the Trinidadian psyche occupies, the issue of ownership in those previously and forcibly dispossessed and the frequencies used to tap into the spiritual realm.

He envisions a triad in the movement of the narrative, the first this art collection; the second and third through writing and music, both other media through which his talent emerges. Those of us who came to age in the 1990s would remember the powerful local talent which surfaced through Kiskadee studios, of which Ozy was a part as lead singer in the Rapso band Homefront.

Philosopher, creator and myth maker, Ozy Merrique discusses the setting and inspiration for his latest exhibition which runs until Thursday June 6 at a site easy to find: the Grundlos Building, the black building opposite Jenny’s on Cipriani Boulevard. For more information click here.