Researcher and photographer Lisandro Suriel is in search for his own identity. The result is Ghost Island, a series of works set in the setting of the Caribbean. Lisandro’s photos full of magical realism can be seen from 9 October in Chrysalid Gallery in Rotterdam.
Lisandro Suriel is born from a Dutch mother and a Caribbean Father and hails from Sint Maarten, an island in the Dutch Caribbean. Having solely been raised by my single Dutch mother in a Caribbean context conjured an early awareness of cultural differences and a double consciousness. Though Suriel felt very at home growing up, local culture still seemed somewhat foreign to him, as it was not endemic to his household. At the same time, he did not retain a penchant for his mother’s Dutch language or culture. The culture that Suriel eventually came to embrace as his own was one that was imagined.
Lisandro Suriel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and received his Master’s of Art by research in Artistic Research and Art Studies at the University of Amsterdam. As part of his Master’s thesis, he analyzed early twentieth-century illustrations of West-Indian mythology in relation to cultural aphasia. This research forms the foundation of his ongoing artistic project Ghost Island. This year Lisandro was elected FOAM Talent 2021 and was selected for the prestigious Photo Vogue Festival 2021.
Ghost Island stands for his own insular background on his native island and at the same time refers to the complex West Indian web of overlapping histories, collective identity, mixing of cultures in the Black Atlantic, and the persistence of intangible elements from the past.
Chrysalid Gallery is located at Coolsestraat 142 in Rotterdam and is a non-profit art foundation that focuses on diversifying art. The gallery was founded in 2016 by Alexey Shifman under the name Raw Streetphoto Gallery. In order to put a sharper focus on conceptual and radical art, the gallery changed to Chrysalid Gallery in early 2020. The gallery represents young and daring artists from all over Europe and gives them the space to experiment and grow.
