The Cuba series

Things We Find in the Move One of the great things about moving (probably the only good thing) is that we often find things that we'd forgotten about. These pieces below are from a set of about 100 small watercolors that I did for one of my senior year exhibition projects at the University of Washington School of Art in 1981. Probably 40-50 of these have sold over the years. They all have the map of the island of Cuba as the focus.

Update: Some of these images are from owners that bought some of these sending them to me.

"Isla Prision (Prison Island)"
c. 1980, Ink wash and wood rods on paper
In the collection of The Cuban Studies Institute, Miami, Florida

"Isla Prision"
Monoprint enhanced with Charcoal and pins, c.1980
In a private collection in New Jersey

"Isla Prision"
Monoprint enhanced with watercolor and pins, c.1980
In a private collection in Florida

Isla Encadenada
Acrylic on paper with metal chain, c. 1979

Isla Encadenada
Colored pencils on paper with metal chain, c. 1979

"Isla Herida" c. 1978

"Donde crece la palma" 1978

"The Island that Time Forgot" 1981

"Mi verso es un ciervo herido Que busca en el monte amparo" 1979

"Stabbed Island" 1980


"Isla Roja" (Red Island) 1981


"Isla Carcel" (Jail Island) 1981


"Isla Encarcelada" (Jailed Island) 1981


"Isla Ensangrentada" (Bloodied Island) 1981


"Isla Encadenada" (Chained Island) 1981


Isla Pesadilla (Nightmare Island) 1981


Isla en Jaula (Caged Island) 1981


"Isla en Goma" (Inner Tube Island) 1981


"Isla Prisionera" (Prisoner Island) 1981


Isla Deshuesada (Deboned Island) 1981

"Isla Llorona", oil on board c. 1978

"Isla Clavada (Nailed Island)"
1980 Color pencils and embedded nails

"Isla Abandonada (Abandoned Island)"
Oil and Acrylic on Gessoed Board, 8x10 inches, c.1979
In a private collection in Hialeah, Florida

Nubes Lloronas, Oil on board, c.1979

"Isla Llorona", oil on board, c.1978
In the collection of Queens' University, Charlotte, NC

Cuba, Isla Desbaratada (Cuba, Disassembled Island). Pen and Ink. 2009.


Cuba, Isla Encarcelada (Cuba, Jailed Island). Watercolor and Wire. 2009.



Cuba, Isla Judia (Cuba, Jewish Island). Watercolor. 2009.

Isla Prisionera
In a private collection in Miami, Florida

Isla Balsera
Location Unknown (Sold at Pike Pace Market, Seattle in 1978-79)

"Isla Balsera (Raft Island)" - Happy Birthday America, Wishing We Were There!
Collage on Paper, Framed to 30x40 inches, c. 1976
Was in a private Collection in New Jersey - donated to American University Art Museum in 2015

"Isla Prision (Prison Island)" By F. Lennox Campello
c. 1978, Charcoal on paper
In a private collection in New Jersey

"Isla Prisión" (Prison Island)
Watercolor on Paper by F. Lennox Campello, c. 1977

Wanna go to an opening this week?

Opening Reception: Wednesday, November 11, 6 - 8 pm

Curator's Office will have the third solo exhibition of Korean-born artist Jiha Moon. For this exhibition, the gallery will

... present works exploring the nature of place and its inspiration on creative output. Works include three square-format Hanji paper over canvas pieces and four horizontal works on Hanji paper. There is a special emphasis on abstraction in many of these works. As Moon is currently an artist-in-residence at The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, the influence of textiles is subtly apparent as several works incorporate small embroidered areas, a departure for the artist.



The works in the exhibition were created both in her Korea and Atlanta-based studios. This division in working locations provoked the artist to explore the cultural influence of a precise place in an increasingly dizzying global world. For example, in the ironically titled work, An Exact Place, Moon looked at different national flags and how these vibrantly colored but mostly abstract images try to represent a specific culture. An interchangeable quality emerges for the artist as she notes, "if you change around the positions of some colored stripes, one flag can represent different nations, for example the similarities between Italy and Mexico or France and Russia." She deconstructs the flag stripes and situates them sinuously through the work and its many focal points thereby creating an invented universality where the nexxus of culture and location allows for hybrid cultures to emerge. This visual universality includes stars, moons, suns, animals, plants and weapons -- also derived from specific flags -- but germane to us all.

Another great source of inspiration for the artist is dancheong, an ancient Korean style of decorative painting using 5 primary colors and specific elaborate patterns. Going back more than two thousand years, the murals are found mostly on the exteriors of ceremonial wooden buildings.