Excerpt- ‘‘Canadian visual artist Laurena Finéus showcases her Haitian heritage in figurative paintings. Now an MFA candidate at Columbia University, the artist relies on early memories of her childhood in Ottawa and Gatineau, stories from her maternal grandmother in Haiti, as well as a keen interest in alternative historical production to bring her compelling scenes to life. She infuses real and imagined subjects into near-whimsical landscapes, Creole, English, and French are blending into the titles of her works, baking in her cultural range. The artist leverages an intuitive color palette, something around which she admits to still building a narrative, further connecting with her lineage while creating intuitive spaces for the viewer.

Finéus speaks openly about the extent to which others have tried to silence the past in many Black communities, discovering that some have tried to fictionalize or omit those darker parts of Haiti’s history, allowing those in power to dictate how others are remembered. She hopes to reclaim this narrative through her paintings, offering a more impactful, more honest, if you will, take on Haitian culture. Though the public may feel repelled by the concept of nostalgia as it relates to their own country, Finéus wants to capture her lineage more objectively, honoring the place where her family put down roots before relocating to Canada. Issues around fear of Black governance, the condition of asylum seekers in America, and neocolonialism all serve as entry points into her research and define why she has turned to Haiti as a packed subject. Applying swaths of captivating blues, greens, and purples, the artist paints scenes of people simply communing, dancing, standing, swimming, spending time outdoors, gathering over rice, beans, and drink, and including more politically and historically charged imagery shrouded in the Caribbean landscapes. ‘‘