In “Tropical Paradise”; Golding paints a portrait inspired by his late grand-aunt and his birthplace, Jamaica. In the image, painted in acrylic and oil paint, the smiling woman figure is depicted standing a coconut tree for shade in the sunny and beautiful paradise resort.

Jay Golding

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Jay Golding’s figurative paintings and drawings evoke mythology, migration, and interconnectedness, creating literal and symbolic layers employed by vibrant palettes in acrylics and oils, sometimes incorporating collaged or impastoed elements. Golding’s emphasis on tribal cultures within his work, often infuses Caribbean and African cultural motifs allowing him to draw parallels between various communities–expressed by his masked figures and other fictional characters such as the purple-skinned beings from the village “Maji ya bluu”, which is Swahili for blue water. Golding frequently signs his work under the pseudonym Kwame, a name he donned after visiting Ghana in 2019 with his family. He cites his trip to the West African nation as well as Mexico as being life changing and having profound effects on his work.