See, I Flame Bougainvilla

One of Trinidad and Tobago's most prolific and recognized artists, LeRoy Clarke (1938-2021) was a painter, poet, performer, philosopher, and Orisha leader; an artist who reflected his country's search for an aesthetic identity and the embracement of visual imagery based on African roots and popular myths. Shortly after starting his career, Clarke moved to New York, becoming the first artist-in-residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where he stayed until 1974 and developed the fundamentals of his practice. During this period, he continued the series "Fragments of a Spiritual" and began "Douens," a group of works that revisit the folklore of Trinidad and the Caribbean. These depict twisted, disturbing fairy creatures such as douens, spirits of children who died before being baptized, or La Diablesse, a demon woman that seduces men leading them to death. Clarke also painted the soucouyant, an evil being in the form of a ball of fire that sucks the blood from its victims at night, probably represented in "See, I Flame Bougainvilla."