Molin, Ferdinand

Ferdinand Molin

As an aging man facing the difficulties of life, Molin “repented” and became an evangelical Christian. He obtained a diploma from the Theological Institute of John Calvin of Piety around 1996 and currently is the 2nd pastor at the Church of God on Thurman Street. Now, at 79, he has four children and is married to his 2nd wife, Stamene Molin, with whom he has a 4 year old boy. They live in Port-au-Prince behind the marche poisson, nearby a well-known outfit which stretches canvases for a number of local artists. His means of living are provided for by his Church, and by the few paintings he sells to infrequent visitors.

Molin’s paintings are always quite large, and deal mostly with historical, political, and religious themes. One hesitates to call him an “outsider artist,” as this term continues to be over-used in reference to Haitian art. However, his approach to these themes is profoundly original.

Images from America’s Civil War are recurrent, as is the biblical fable of Daniel in the lion’s den. The out-of-place experiments in modern architecture which populate Port-au-Prince (and much of the third world) are another repeated image, often the setting for Molin’s characteristically strange armies and blank-faced crowds of people.