Expats in Colombia: Steven Weinberg

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Steven, who lives in NYC, wasn’t here long enough to be considered an “expat” really, but he was definitely here long enough to have done something interesting in Colombia that is worth talking about! Read on to find out what…

LCO: First, introduce yourself. Where are you from and what’s your connection with Colombia?
SW: I’m an illustrator and painter from Brooklyn, New York USA. I spent all of this past July in Colombia travelling around with my girlfriend, writer Casey Scieszka. We travel and work together a lot and recently came out with a first book about the two years we lived in Asia and West Africa, called To Timbuktu.

LCO: Tell us the story of how you ended up in Colombia and what you came to do here.
SW: I wouldn’t quite call it spinning a globe and seeing where our fingers landed, but Casey and I knew we wanted to go someplace new. Once we starting thinking about going to Colombia, it seemed like friends of ours started coming out of the woodwork saying, “Go go!”.

I also knew I had an art show scheduled with Cafe Grumpy, a Brooklyn-based roasting company that shows art. I’ve always loved their Colombian sourced beans, so I asked Caroline Bell, the owner, if I could get in touch with the folks who run the finca in Huila, where their beans come from. She put me in touch with Alejandro Cadena at Virmax (a coffee exporting company in Bogota) who introduced me to some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in Gigante, Huila. I spent three days in Gigante painting the folks who farm the coffee and their vistas.

LCO: What did you learn on your journey?
SW: So much about coffee! I only abstractly knew that it had to grow in high altitudes and that there are a lot of steps in between farming and drinking a cup. I got to see every step. The finca where I painted was two hours out of Gigante up a mountain on a motorbike, then another twenty minute walk–and that’s without lugging 70 kg bags of coffee beans. It was just so eye-opening to see how all that works.

LCO: Which piece of work that you created here is your favorite and why? Describe it for us.
SW: I love painting portraits. So I really like all of the ones I painted up there, but my favorite would have to be of Marta, the wife of Jose who farms the coffee. She was pretty busy the day we were up at their finca making one of the hugest lunches I think Casey and I ate in Colombia. But afterwards I managed to sit her down and paint her. I could tell while I was painting her that her mind was wandering–probably thinking about all of the other shit she is constantly busy with–and everyone was loving the look I captured on her face. I think she’s just a busy lady and I managed to nail her look of, ‘this is great, but I need to go and get dinner started’. I think it’s a look that everyone at the finca already knew very well.

LCO: Tell us about one Colombian you met who inspired or interested you in some way and how.
SW: On our first day in Cali, Casey and I were wandering around the neighborhood San Antonio and popped into a tienda. A guy who had directed us to a lunch place was later having a beer at the corner store we stopped into and asked if he could get us one. Next thing we know, we are talking about everything under the sun and a day later we are at his studio a few blocks away. The guy is Mauro Phazan and he is an amazing ceramicist and painter. We ended up going with his whole family that weekend to the river in San Cipriano, which was also a blast.

LCO: What were your expectations of Colombia before you arrived and how did reality match up?
SW: I really didn’t know what to expect. Just to mess with our heads Casey and I watched Romancing The Stone right before we left. I think our only disappointment from the trip was not seeing a young Michael Douglas anywhere in Cartagena.

LCO: Describe one moment when you felt a cultural gap.
SW: It took Casey and I a little while to get on the Colombia evening schedule. We wouldn’t be able to find anywhere open for dinner and then didn’t know what to do with ourselves until the clubs got going. Then we discovered aguardiente.

LCO: What are your thoughts on Colombian food? Love or hate it? Best dish you tried? Anything you wouldn’t try again?
SW: We had some AMAZING asadero plates up in Villa de Leyva filled with chorizo, hunks of lamb, blood sausage, and potatoes with aji on the side. That was right at the beginning of our trip and set a very high bar. Overall, though, I really liked Colombian food and am excited to check out a few Colombian restaurants in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. That is, after I have made up for eating zero vegetables for all of July.

LCO: Any plans to come back?
SW: Absolutely. But I have no idea when that would be. We promised our new friends up at the finca we’d be back, and same with Mauro Phazan and his family, so there are folks to hold us accountable. But really no idea when.

LCO: And finally, for those in NYC, what are the details of your show?
SW: The show is called “Gigante” and is up at Cafe Grumpy in Park Slope Brooklyn (383 7th ave. between 11th and 12th st.) for all of August. It’s all for sale. I am also working on another show of art all influenced by Colombia and travel at another Brooklyn art space, The Littlefield, which will open on September 8th 6-9pm and be up for the month. More info on all of that is at my site telephoneandsoup.com

Thanks Steven!

For more interviews with expats in Colombia, click here.

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