Utilizing space between sunrise and sunset; Remembering Christopher McKenzie

BY WAZARI JOHNSON

Death is such a strange thing. It can bring you down to your knees by breaking your heart, but it also serves as a very expensive handbill that reminds you that we are not here forever; that we must utilize that space between our sunrise and our sunset to the best of our ability.

I watched my sister battle cancer for one full year, the process drained me. I struggled for months to stay focused on work, my art and my writing. The last two mentioned aspects of myself, comes from a place deep inside me when I have inner turmoil. It is a struggle for me to think creatively. My dear sister died August 12th, 2020, and it felt like I lost a massive part of myself. I tried hard to get back to the potter’s wheel, to the studio, but my spirit felt frozen in time. I found myself being a broken man.

What I find even stranger now, is that death is the reason I am now writing this article.
On September 28th, 2020, I received the awful news that my friend for 23 years, a tremendous talent, Christopher McKenzie, passed away. Christopher was battling ALS for some time now, and this dear brother and soldier has rested from his war.

What stands out in my mind about Christopher is how he soaked up life. He always loved to laugh. From our days at art school he always loved to make others laugh. Christopher always sought to generate an atmosphere of happiness around him; even when he shared his ALS diagnosis with us (his friends from art school) he kept a positive outlook about his remaining days.

Chris had another battle in life that he, in my estimation, overcame and that was his battle with self-doubt and discouragement. When I met him in art school, I was mind blown as to how talented he was. His level of skill and dexterity did not reflect that he was almost fresh out of high school, a youngster.

Christopher possessed a high level of skill in drawing and painting, and when he told me he wanted to be a part of the painting department, I concluded that he had this under control; after all, from what we could see (the group of us as students) he was one of the best of us.

Christopher did make it into the painting department, but soon after he started to face difficulties. In his own words, “At the time, the school did not encourage individualism. They tried to strip me of my own way of expressing myself through art, so I would do it their way.” This is something that I personally witnessed, not only for Chris but many other students. My purpose for citing this is not to tear down the alma mater we both shared, but this was a recurring issue that many of us observed, and it caused me great displeasure while I was a student.

I have a number of friends who have related that they no longer paint, draw, etc., and this was connected to what they had to endure while at art school. I strongly believe that the role of an educator is to encourage his/her students and to equip them with the necessary tools for present and future success, not to stifle one’s individuality or to discourage them.
In more recent times, Christopher eventually motivated himself to start producing art again. He related that his drive was rekindled when his son, who was at his parent’s home, saw a collection of paintings he had done hanging on the wall. When his son asked him why he didn’t paint anymore, it was in that moment, he thought about painting again, and that whole process produced a number of master works.

Christopher developed an eclectic style of painting, but the pieces I enjoyed the most were his portrait explorations. In these, he used a variety of colors to explore how light and dark affects the surface of faces. A number of these pieces were of Jamaican public personalities such as Bob Marley, Koffee, Usain Bolt and Edward Seaga just to name a few.

These pieces were iconic and had presence. I really loved the way he blended and used colors in these pieces and they all showcased the outstanding dexterity Christopher was known for. He had such extraordinary potential and I am happy that he got to share it with the world. He showcased his work in exhibitions staged by Osmosis Caribbean and the Reggae Mill restaurant and the reviews were always great.
Though he is gone, he has left a great legacy in art and in life. While he is not here to interact with us anymore, I would like to encourage you dear readers to visit his Instagram page @chrischinoart and enjoy a visual feast.