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Posted on 1/16/2016 10:50:08 PM
By Summer Nelson
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Smugglers Fuel Study - 12" x 18"
"Clandestino" is a series of works currently in progress by Micaiah Hardison. This series focuses on things that happen out of sight of everyday life, often under the cover of darkness, in the great expanse of the ocean where no camera or watchful eye is there to capture the moments that pass – sometimes laden with anxiety or excitement, with clammy hands and a thin layer of damp salt on everything, where even the dimmest lights reflect off of the oily black surface of the sea.
I posed a few questions to Micaiah to share some insight on his vision for this project.
What inspired you to pursue this theme?
I was intrigued by the fact that painting was the way that people and events were documented before film and photography existed, and when the camera entered the scene painters feared it would make them irrelevant. I started to feel the spark of wanting to document contemporary events which do not get captured on film or by camera, specifically the nocturne seascape.
I have an old gringo fisherman friend who lives in central Baja who I visit regularly. I noticed that on a neighboring property, there were some interesting looking boats with lateral stabilizing keels running down the length of the bottom of the boats on each side. While I was looking at the boats the owner came out of his house to shoo me away but we ended up having a long conversation about these hybrid boats. I learned that he had them custom made in Sinaloa and was hoping to sell them to smugglers who needed the extra capacity and stability to run heavily loaded panga boats in the open ocean for hundreds of miles. He posed as a fisherman but was actually making his money delivering fuel to the poachers’ boats at night. The locals despised him because these poachers had no fishing rights to the territory and were stealing the community's livelihood. Soon after our meeting one of his boats was intercepted, confiscated by the Mexican authorities and the men aboard were arrested for aiding illegal poachers. While he was in hiding another boat washed to shore with two men shot dead. Later he humbly returned to fishing and has been accepted back into the community. Since that first meeting with him my mind has been filled with images of all manner of illicit activities that would take place with these boats under the cover of darkness. This is how the series was born.
Chicken of The Sea - 24" x 36"
What made you choose Cardiff Reef as the backdrop to your Beach Landing piece?
Having grown up in Encinitas, it is well known by most informed locals that these pangas come ashore all over San Diego under the cover of darkness on a fairly regular basis. You can read about it in the papers or hear about it on the news, but you don’t see photos of it actually happening. I imagined what it might look like, and wanted to share that with others. The shape of the coastline is very distinct in Cardiff, and the contrast of the affluence of this area with the presumed smuggler boat coming ashore was poignant.
Given that Pacific Seascapes are what people have come to expect from you, how did it feel to paint a piece that stirred debate and strong opinions in the local community?
A lot of work went into the mural triptych that I installed on the Pacific Coast Highway. It was a self funded project – supported by Paint Encinitas and hosted on private property, though it is a very visible and public location. It was my gift to the community and a homage to my home town. When I first became aware that some people were upset by the theme of the piece, I felt deflated and somewhat baffled.
The moment depicted in 'Beach Landing' is emotionally charged, so in a way, it’s understandable that the image would stir up strong emotions in the observer. To me it is a depiction of an a common event that deserved to be visually represented and since I have many friends who have entered our community in similar ways I did not feel this subject was taboo.
After the dust settled and the news vans went home I was amazed that I had told a story without speaking, and people had found more meaning in the artwork than I ever could have expected.
Click Here to read articles about the mural
What do you have in mind for other paintings in this series?
I will be working on one of a Mexican panga unloading their cargo onto an American Sailboat – these transfers happen in the ocean so that the pleasure boat owner can complete the smuggling operation and enter the harbor undetected. Another one is of a panga lost at sea – stranded, adrift.
Posted on 1/3/2016 6:27:24 PM
By Summer Nelson
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Two Harbors, Catalina (The Isthmus) is a small island village with a tiny population at the north end of Catalina Island. It hosts one historic hotel, one restaurant, a general store, and a one-room schoolhouse for children of the 150 year round residents. Visiting this sleepy little harbor on a sunny weekend is truly like taking a step back in time.
After motoring and sailing through the night from Oceanside Harbor, we arrived with the glowing sunrise at our backs, hooked up to the slip line and got onto a tiny wood dinghy called the buttercup. Micaiah snapped a few pictures as we were rowing ashore for a well earned cup of coffee after the long night at sea. The background rolling hills, crumbling bluffs and rocky shoreline gave an instant 1920's era Catalina feel. The study for the upcoming series is here:
After a long day of snorkeling and cooking dinner on the on-board grill, a rum and ginger beer drink in the making:
Summer and Spiced Rum 12"x 24"
A late afternoon solo sail:
More to come in the next post of that stunning little harbor...
