Stanwyck Cromwell creates art work “from a cultural point of view”
Stanwyck E. Cromwell was born 1948 in Georgetown with the artistic talents of both parents. This talent, he says, was nurtured by another noted Guyanese artist, who is also his cousin, Maurice C. Jacobs, who helped him develop that talent.
Cromwell attended the former British Guiana Educational Trust High School, and graduated with high honours in art and foreign language. He worked for several years as a graphic artist at the Guyana Lithographic Company, working alongside well-known Guyanese artist Angold Thompson, before migrating to the U.S.A.in 1970 at 22 years-old, in search of a career in art.
Cromwell went on to earn a Bachelors of Arts degree in Applied Arts from Charter Oak State College, and a Master of Fine Arts degree with a concentration on painting from the University of Hartford. He has lived and worked in Bloomfield, Connecticut for more than 40 years.
Cromwell has been described as a contemporary visual artist and art educator. He creates works of art through painting, drawing and collages/assemblages, which have been exhibited throughout the U.S.
Of his collages,created with old newspapers, tin and other everyday discarded items, he notes, “These discarded objects, reflect suffering, joy, and hope.”
And of his paintings he says, “The images in my paintings are reflective of both my Caribbean heritage and African ancestry.”
In an interview, Cromwell said that he has rich and abundant memories of Guyana that are referenced in his art. He noted too that there are “striking… physical and aesthetic distances between the cultures of Guyana and the United States of America”.
Speaking to Hunter Editions he points out that his usage of the black-eye pea and other seeds are very frequent in his drawings and paintings: “The black-eye pea has dual meaning. It represents part of our national cuisine and cultural linkage to Africa, and is also symbolic of the racial makeup of America.” (Photos of artwork from www.flickr.com/stancromwell)
![“Folklores from Guyana (2)”Coloured Pencils (2006) “[Folklores] have been embedded in my subconscious, thus allowing me to create works of art, from a cultural point of view,” says Cromwell](https://www.guyanatimesinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/052.jpg)
