Haitian-born artist Marie-Denise Douyon makes her Bermuda debut this weekend with a solo exhibition entitled 'Afrik Eco Art: Recent Bermudian Works', in the Masterworks Foundation's Rose Garden Gallery in the Botanical Gardens.

In preparing for her term as the Foundation's artist-in-residence, Miss Douyon decided to travel lightly in terms of art materials and use her imagination and locally-found objects to produce a body of work different to that which she was creating in her home city of Montreal, Canada.

Here since mid-January and based at 'Buckingham' in St. George's, the artist has been busily fulfilling her mandate and expects to show approximately 14 pieces – half based on found objects and the rest figure drawings and portraits, for which Rochée Douglas, with her fine facial bone structure, happily posed as the model.

"The figure drawings are a tribute to the beauty of the Bermudian women," the artist says, adding that the deep, rich variations of blue in some of the portraits were inspired by local waters.

Accustomed to the hustle and bustle of urban Montreal, Miss Douyon finds the tranquil pace of life in Bermuda's world heritage site a welcome change and she is charmed by the fluidity of interaction between its residents, including the way they care for and watch over each other.

Forced, at age three, together with her family to flee the brutal regime of 'Papa Doc' Duvalier and his Tonton Macoutes in her native Haiti in 1964, young Marie-Denise lived first in Algeria, and then in Morocco and Casablanca. Throughout her formative years, she was always interested in art, and encouraged by her mother to enter competitions. The cultural influences of Haiti, North Africa and the French schools she attended all helped to develop the future artist's taste for diversity and inter-culturalism.

Following completion of her secondary education, Miss Douyon moved to the United States where she spent six years studying graphics and illustration, four of them at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, where she met fellow student and now professional Bermudian artist Betsy Mulderig, and two at the Maryland College of Design.

After a few years living back in Haiti, Miss Douyon became a permanent resident of Montreal, where she works a graphic artist with the Quebec Human Rights Commission.

To anchor her multicultural identity, she focuses her art on her African heritage. Her use of found objects in many of her works reflects her deep concern for the socio-environmental disasters which threaten our world.

"Ecology has become very popular, and it has been a concern living in Canada, but others issues, such as human rights, and the movement of refugees from poor, oppressed and war-torn countries into other areas of the world will, in the long run, become global issues," she says.

As a result, she likes to place proverbs, drawn from many cultures and sources, next to some of her art in the hope that they will create an awareness of certain issues.

"I don't want my art to be moralistic, they are just statements about social issues, women... I am not on a crusade, but I like to mention these things. If they bring some type of awareness that's good," she says.

Miss Douyon points out that while the art of using proverbs is being lost in certain societies, others, like Haitian and African societies, use them regularly to impart advice, moral teachings, traditional popular wisdom and as a way to make points in a conversation.

The artist is particularly interested in African art treated in a contemporary way and the use of proverbs is her way paying tribute to traditional African societies and acknowledging an ancient way of living which she says should be preserved.

Miss Douyon is a successful, internationally-recognised artist who has exhibited in North America, Europe and the Caribbean. She also works on private commissions and her art is found in many private collections.

For further information about this artist and her work visit websites www.afrikecoart.com and www.mariedenisedouyon.com.

¦ 'Afrik Eco Art: Recent Bermuda Works' opens to the public on Sunday, March 2, during the grand opening of the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The closing reception for the show is on March 14 from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. For further information telephone 236-2950.