SC Exclusive: Archipelago Intuition — A Photo Story by Jawara Alleyne, Labō Young and Igor Furtado

The paths of Jawara Alleyne, Labō Young and Igor Furtado crossed during their time at Grand Cayman estate, Palm Heights — while the three were participating in the Open Palm artist residency programme. Caymanian-Jamaican designer and artist Alleyne, whose multidisciplinary practice explores Caribbean mythologies, normally lives and works in London. Hailing from Brazil, Young creates wearable sculptures from foliage and other natural materials, while fellow Brazilian Furtado works as a photographer and editor. Through a spontaneously birthed collaboration, the trio came together to create an exclusive series of images for Something Curated.

Alleyne tells SC: “I’m so grateful that the universe aligned and brought Labō and myself together in such an organic way. I’ve been inspired by his work since I discovered it years ago and was obsessed. There’s a sensitivity and alchemical mysticism to what he sees that I feel drawn to. Growing up between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, I’ve always had a great appreciation for the land and nature around me. Jamaica is referred to as the Land of Wood and Water, and there’s such rich greenery. It’s something that I’ve taken inspiration from, and when I saw Labō’s work, it was like we spoke the same language.

We both created looks for Carnival with Palm Heights, and I had the pleasure of seeing him at work in his element. The approach is sensitive and intuitive; it was like watching myself. His treatment of materialism and working with what’s there is in tandem with the way I think about fabrics. Upon meeting him, I immediately felt a strong connection, and it became essential to collaborate. The synergy in our approach, coupled with the excitement of our differing creative outputs really fuelled the collaboration.

Meeting Igor as well was key to the seamlessness of this collaboration. We had many conversations on what could come out of a joint moment between us all, and it became so clear that we all just loved to experiment, play and to create. We loved what we do, but also, most importantly, loved the human connections that creating can allow for. Even if we don’t speak the same language, we see eye to eye. There’s a lot of value in that.”

Young comments: “The collaboration happened very naturally, like all of the others within the residency. Jawara is such a talented designer and I feel not only close to him, but also to how he creates his pieces, in the most intuitive and organic way. I feel like our collaboration happened at the perfect time for both of us. We have our ancestry and the place we come from as reference and inspiration, so being in the island where he lived so many years, and talking about it so honestly, was very precious to me.

The whole experience in Cayman was the discovery of a new world, but somehow it also made me feel at home or like I had been there before. I think Igor and I share the same feeling, that must be why we managed to co-create something so sensitive and full of meaning to us.”