The Termite. By: Miguel Hernández

Category: Painting • Technique: Acrylic on canvas • Format: 120" x 120" x 50" • Year: 2005
XXXI Bienal Nacional 05'
Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo - Dominican Republic.

This piece deals with The Dominican Republic and its deterioration over the years. Utilizing the basic idea of the natural beauty/purity of the island, one might assume that this piece alludes to only to the ecological deterioration. In fact, its conceptualization covers the social aspect as well as the environmental.

Formally, I start from the cartography of our island that elevates as if it were rising in a state of vegetation. As a metaphor for the parasitic and destructive creatures that impede the growth and progress of the country, I have created the presence of termites surrounded by a circle of salt which represents the ocean surrounding our great nation. The salt also refers to an expression in Spanish which indicates when something is undesirable, saying ‘it is salty.’ The narrative of the painting flows through the path of pain that our land suffers from including, but not limited to, illiteracy, degenerative political practice, corruption, poverty, abuse of power, crime, and violence against women, children, and the elderly.

This piece could be read, interpreted, and analyzed on many levels, depending on the need that we have for reflection upon and awareness of the problems that affect our nation. The interpretation that I suggest communicates the need for unity on the island and the irreversibility of the acts that we have committed against it, both socially and ecologically. Awareness should reside in the fact that we, on a large and small scale, are responsible for the present and future state of our nation. Likewise, we must concentrate on belonging to and cooperating with the space and life that surrounds us.