HAITI/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BORDER (2011)

Collage. Archival ink jet prints, ink on paper mounted on canvas.
Each 72″ × 86″

The Haiti/Dominican Republic border collages are based upon Blane De St. Croix’s research trip to Haiti, following the 2010 earthquake, in which he explored social, economic and political divisions represented through the vast diversity of the landscape. Part of the artist’s research involved documenting the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The Dominican Republic has a lush green tropical forest and is economically thriving due to protection laws and a robust tourism industry. In contrast Haiti, much of which is a desolate landscape with vast areas of erosion, is now virtually treeless. Although  flora and fauna common in the Dominican Republic once thrived in Haiti, even pre-earthquake the Haitian landscape suffered from devastation due to an inadequate infrastructure for energy, which led the struggling population to log trees to produce charcoal, in order to provide heat and cooking fire to survive.

The collages depict the portion of the Haitian landscape Blane De St. Croix witnessed during his trip. These works call upon the artist’s subliminal images of still sections from nature, often seductive upon first glimpse, yet revealing the discord and turmoil imposed upon the landscapes.

Photographs in support of the project and its research can be viewed in the “research” section.