Upsurge only produces a few pieces each year, some taking months to complete, She is often seen in images, flanked by her assistant or with only her easel and set of oils, Spending weeks at a time in the countryside, she has gained a direct relationship with the people and farmers that live and work the landscape she mints But look closer at her art and it will reveal a tropical vision that looks past the spectacular colors and into the heart of the country, its people and the issues they face.
Since Mrs.. Upsurge completed her first group of stunning flowers, each has shown the stages of life from birth to adolescence, adulthood to aged and finally death. But in 2007 her use Of symbolism became very pronounced in the work named “La Montanan Smaller De Squeaky” or “The Emerald Hills of Squeaky”. The work was commissioned to be a visualization Of the poem With the same name.
In the painting there are many symbols and imagery that deal With the social and environmental issues that Mrs.. Upsurge sees While working in the countryside. Here are a few items that are notable in the work of art: 1. The Cocoa pod which is a prominent feature in the work was painted as it is naturally and was not given a luster of beauty but was given a patina of age ready to fall. Meaning: During the time the work was completed, world chocolate prices rode to an all-time high.
Even with the high prices many farmers expressed a fear for their security and could not harvest much of the crop due o armed bandits stealing cocoa from the plantations, 2, garbed wire around the Cocoa tree: Signifies how the majority tooth tatters live in poor conditions without the hope of making a better life for their family, while the European chocolate producers continue to make profits without reinvesting into the local population. 3.
Unlike many pristine mountainsides in the Dominican Republic Mrs.. Upsurge chose to paint much of it stripped of its natural trees. Meaning: The stripped land along the mountainside is showing the need for preservation due to the clearing and destruction of the rain forest for farming. 4. The small cocoa pod bud, the adolescent cocoa pod and the aged pod once again show the stages of life. As can be seen in the referenced painting, Mrs.. Upsurge is very interested in supporting social issues.
She is the founder Of the Upsurge Art Libido Foundations and the Art Books for Education Project that focuses on art education for young Dominican children in rural areas. She is also a part Of the Marinara Cocoa Preserve. A private preservation initiative owned and run by the Upsurge family that combines sustainable organic cocoa farming practices and forest management with the protection of wildlife and nature. The countryside thin the preserve was a primary subject for many of her paintings.
