Amor pa Otrobanda
Guardian eyes
by Garrick Marchena
This little house was abandoned for a long time and it ended up being used as a garbage dumpster. The foundation Casa Vivas cleaned it up and hired Garrick Marchena to design and paint this little house. As part of the project Marchena offered to coach and give a short mural and drawing workshop to a few talented youth from the bario.
He was inspired by the layout of the two windows and the door of the house and found the perfect fit in a photo of a Peregrine falcon by William Zhang.
This mural became a very popular photo attraction, but he didn’t know it would also be seen by millions around the world.
About Garrick Marchena
Garrick Marchena was born in 1966 in Aruba, but grew up in Curacao. His mother worked as a wedding gown seamstress. Because of her talents as a sketch artist, she would always draw the bride wearing her design before she would start sewing the dress. Garrick often observed her while she sketched and also started drawing from a very young age.
During his teenage years he had become a skilled portraitist and growing up in a hip-hop scene he had also developed a great interest in graffiti. He loved working with spray cans, but he never liked the concept of vandalism.
That changed in 2006 as the street art movement had come to pass. Garrick got interested in the movement in California. They didn’t limit themselves to just spray paint but used all kind of paints and materials to get the desired result. Garrick found his true calling.
Garrick seems to prefer children and animals, especially birds, as subjects for his murals. He enjoys conveying a message of innocence and freedom. He wants to awaken emotions as well as to raise consciousness.
“For me creating art is a primary need, the emotions it evokes in others still amazes me.”
