By Sana Rose, Contributor 
IN A word, "vivid", aptly describes the colourful renditions of Surinamese artist, Marcel Pinas, currently on view at the Bolivar Gallery, on Grove Road in Kingston.
The artist is no stranger to the island as he was recently enrolled as a student of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA) where he received a diploma in painting in 1999, along with three other compatriots. This sojourn at the college was made possible through a scholarship from the Government of Suriname.
Titled "Ancestral Whispers", the bright hues Pinas uses are the first things that greet us as viewers as we step into the exhibition space.
The pieces with their colourful lines and shapes distributed across flat picture planes linger on the retina, as the tropical heat of the juxtaposed complementary colours seems to scream against each other.
An undesirable jarring effect on the eyes is created, however, with the close proximity of the works to each other, depriving viewers of much needed wider intervals to properly view the works.
Most of the canvases are presented unstretched with black wooden strips placed at the top and bottom. This may have been done for easy transportation but the effect is that of scroll-like wall hangings, which complement and chronicle the conceptual underpinnings of the work. Unless you are privy to the symbolism behind Pinas' work, you may be inclined to dismiss these paintings as purely decorative.
NDJUKA PEOPLE
The artist originates from the Ndjuka tribe in Suriname, which is one of the six Maroon tribes from the southeastern part of the country, which has managed to maintain a relatively independent existence for many years.
The urgency to preserve his heritage, which is threatened by the infusion of urban customs and practices, has become a central focus in Pinas' work.
In his artist statement, he declares, "Basically this body of work is about... the destruction of the Ndjuka culture in Suriname. In these works, I have expressed that situation, paying attention to the protection of cultures in general."
By utilising the native Afaka script and the decorative motifs the Ndjuka people used to decorate various tools and objects, a range of symbols have become personal icons that form the core of his visual language.
Essentially abstract works of art, the pieces are composed of an initial wall of colour in either red, green, blue, yellow, black or brown paint, against which the cultural symbols rest and interact with a totemic black shape that alludes to the human form.
This totemic shape that runs vertically throughout each picture, is also a symbolic icon. Pinas states that among the meanings of totems in the Ndjuka culture is protection from negative outside influences.
Pinas translates his people's dilemma into visual statements that proclaim their cultural turf, warding off these "negative outside influences" while pointing to the importance of safeguarding one's own heritage.
A painterly sensibility pervades each work as blocks of acrylic paint and pastel lines are scumbled one on top of the other creating a visual interplay and mix of colour. The complementary colours seem to contradict the title of the show as the glaring colours do not whisper but simulate neon danger signs against the destruction of Pinas' culture.
Alongside the miniature to large-scaled paintings are a few objects, two of which are reminiscent of obelisks.
Pinas' wooden forms, titled "Boto Ede I and II" protrude from the floor like horns. The black horn-like forms upon which the other colours sit seem to be three-dimensional versions of the totemic shapes found in the canvases.
The currency of the issue of the reverence for and preservation of identity with which Pinas deals is particularly poignant in millennium Jamaica as we have bought wholesale into American culture especially, and have allowed much of our indigenous culture to fade from memory.
While Pinas recalls and offers us views into his heritage through his art, he urges preservation of one's roots in the face of cultural displacement. The exhibition continues at Bolivar Gallery until July 12.
