This week's Caribbean Art pick - Levitating: On One Foot

This installation piece speaks quietly for itself, doesn't it? Over the centuries, folks have been deeply interested in uncovering the mysteries of flight, or unraveling the mystique surrounding time & space. There's another set of folks who are all about meditation, transcendental moments, out of body experiences - aisy faisy stuff to some, but a way of life for them. This snapshot of Raquel Paiewonsky's installation piece currently on display at the Brooklyn Museum as part of the Infinite Island/Contemporary Caribbean Art exhibition sums up all of those pursuits. Comprised of pantyhose, cable wire & beeswax, the human sized feet dangle over the ground at different heights. The use of pantyhose would ensure that the weighty beeswax feet would bob up and down for awhile, eventually stretching the pantyhose to its limits; the feet may touch the ground at some point. The Artist, a native of the Dominican Republic, states that she "experiments with new ways of merging elements of urban life, gender stereotypes, and stress with nature, spirituality, and instinct." "In other words" she says, "through this sort of visual laboratory I can take a closer look at our postmodern world, and I can take to its utmost limits that most amazing human trait of adaptability" So can humans fly? Maybe not. But this vision of Levitating On One Foot supports our need to rise above circumstance - even if it's for a moment.