While in Havana recently, I stumbled on a sculpture garden tucked away in the backyard of an old pretty house off Calle Oficios. The first surprise was to find a sculpture by Rafael Barrios, an op-art artist I discovered in Los Angeles then admired again in Paris. What a surprise to see his work in Havana of all places! Then my eyes took in this beauty, this jewel-toned 3D mural by Cuban artist Alfredo Sosabravo who was born in the 1930’s. He works with many different materials, from oil paint to colourful glass but let me share what I have actually experienced first-hand: his 1992 Palenzuela mural realized with ceramic tiles.   Is it a puzzle? Not really. All tiles are squares, uniform in size and most patterns don’t seem to join up correctly apart from one, almost in the center and made of 4 tiles. It represents a stylized sun. Can you see it? Overwhelmed by the size of the mural, my family and I immediately started to look for recognizable shapes as we got closer (a bird! a fish! a frog!). Known quantities acting as a reassuring starting point quickly became reference points. Wait! You see a crab?  Yes, 3 up from the sun and 7 tiles to the […]