Artist moved to island from Chile for 'new life and fresh air'

An artist who moved to the Isle of Man from Chile to "start a new life" has created a series of artwork depicting the island's "forgotten" folklore.

On display at the Erin Arts Centre, Ashlishyn Vannin - the exhibition, called Visions of Mann, has been put together by artist and illustrator Juan Ashlish.

Also known as Juan Gonzalez, he adopted the surname Ashlish – Manx Gaelic for "dream" – for his work after moving to the island from his native Chile about 18 months ago.

"I was looking for some place to go with my art, to start a new life," Ashlish explained. "Where I was from, there was a lot of pollution, so I was looking for something more natural."

His journey to the island began with an online collaboration with writer Caitlyn Fairbairn, co-creator of the book An Illustrated Guide to the Folklore of the Isle of Man, who told him all about the island and its natural beauty.

"She told me a lot about what was here and it what I was looking for," he said.

"A lot of green, fresh air," Ashlish said.

And those descriptions came to life when he arrived on the island for the first time.

"It was literally what I thought of, like all the green of the forest.

"I like how people here protect the biosphere, the animals. That's beautiful, I like that, I like to see the respect for the animals."

Ashlish said the exhibition was an "evolution" of the work in Fairburn's book, with all of the paintings original pieces created specifically for it.

"For my style I try to always focus on black and white and shapes," he continued.

"I try as much as possible to take away all the rest and just keep it as simple."

One of the most important pieces featured, he said, was that of the sea god Manannan, who he was keen to depict "a little more differently".

"Every time I see a picture of Manannan or an illustration or a painting, it's like this typical old wizard," he explained.

"So when I worked on it, I built it more like a young man with his cloak, to make it a bit more of a modern look."

As well as enjoying the artworks, he hopes it might inspire people visiting the exhibition to find out a little bit more about the characters behind the tales, which in some cases were "very forgotten".

"I thought if people managed to find a connection and an interest, then they might dig a little more down on the history of the development of all the folklore."

The size and shape of the exhibition space in the centre inspired him to showcase some more personal paintings too.

"It has a big, big space for art and the light is really nice," he said. "So I thought why not use the other wall?"

And some of those works have seen him break away from the usual monochrome style of his black and white images to use a more colourful pallet.

"It's a wall with different topics or themes that I've been exploring on my stay here on the Isle of Man."

The works represented his own "imaginary explorations" and artistic paths followed while on the island, he added.

The exhibition is on display at the Erin Arts Centre in Port Erin until 19 June.

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