Changing the world with art

Dwight Larmond is on a mission to change the world, and he's doing it with the help of his trusty paintbrush and his early-model Suzuki Fronte. His car might not look like much but it's what's inside that counts.

Larmond has created an art piece that he says delivers a message of peace and togetherness, and he's travelling the country to spread the word.

"My hope is to use the piece I created to showcase just how similar we all are and that when we get to the root of it, we all are one," he said.

He makes a living trading used cars in his Westmoreland home town, but for the last two years, Larmond's mission to spread the word of togetherness has consumed the lion's share of his time.

The artwork is made primarily of clay taken from Jamaica's 14 parishes.

"I used clay from all the parishes to emphasise the message of unity. If you look at the piece it shows the roots from which we all stem."

The way Larmond sees it, things are tough in Jamaica these days and he just wants to do what he can to help change things.

"I thought about what skills I have that I could use to help bring about that change and the idea for this piece just came to me," he said.

That's how the mission, he now dubs 'Team Roots', began.

He's got sponsors from different parts of the island and displays advertisements from those companies all over his car. Whenever he visits a location, often schools or community centres, he hands out wristbands with 'Team Roots' written on them.

Larmond plans to take his message to other parts of the world and has been in talks with representatives of different embassies here.

"I don't think the message is only relevant here. The art piece represents all of mankind and so I would love to go to other parts of the world and, using it, demonstrate to people just how closely linked we all are," Larmond said.