'I Kaiha Tatte' celebrates the strength and resilience of the CHamoru people

Talented artist Jerrold Dwayne Castro has been prepping paintings since October for his upcoming solo art show, which opens this Saturday, July 6 at the Lees-Reyes Art Gallery in Tumon.

Here's a preview of 'I Kaiha Tatte'- The Long Way Back.

Celebrating the strength and resilience of the CHamoru people is what best sums up the recent series by Castro. He has over 20 paintings that will be on display at the Lees-Reyes Art Gallery on the second floor of the Tumon Sands Plaza as part of his solo art show, which is Castro's third body of work to be showcased.

"The first was Inafa Maolek, To Make Good, which was about cultural identity and it was how i viewed myself as a modern day CHamoru," he said. "Looking at the culture at large holistically asking the question, and how do we move our culture from place to place, but also how do we translate that and pass our culture down from  generation to generation?"

"I Kaiha Tatte - A Long Way Back, which is about our culture natural way that we migrate, looking at  our migration tendencies  and specifically our diaspora," he added.

The show, which opens on Saturday, July 6 at 4pm, is made possible by a CAHA grant and the National Endowment for the Arts.

"It was an idea that I pitched on how do I showcase our diaspora and how do I fully celebrate that part of our history, that element of our culture. I started this project I think in October of last year, and I'm still painting until the show," he said.

Castro was able to give a preview on some of the pieces featured, saying, "I see this painting similar to how I wanted to approach the whole body of work. First off it's titled, Near And Far. When you look at CHamoru culture there's those of us who stay back home and those of us who go out and explore and ultimately come back. We have to look at the CHamoru culture not just in that separation, but they're dinga. Those who stay and those who go are equal elements of our culture."

'I Kaiha Tatte' opens on Saturday, July 6, with a reception from 4pm-6pm. The show will run until Aug. 20.

"The work that yo use is going to tell a story and it's going to tell our story...it's going to tell my story. I've been part of the diaspora for about 25 years and I think every time I approach a piece I have to execute it at a very high level, trust the process and in the end I will like it and others will enjoy it," he said.