The Painter of the Magic Arch” was born in the middle of the Caribbean Sea on January 14, 1948, to a Curaçaoan father and a Dominican mother. She lived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for 13 years, where she received her early education under the guidance of the renowned Haitian painter and writer George Paul Héctor (1938-1993).

In 1968, she held her first exhibition at “Cumbio Studio” in Port-au-Prince. In 1970, she participated in a collective exhibition in the Dominican Republic (Aerovía Quisqueyana) and the following year at the Montego Beach Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. In 1972, she set up her workshop in Curaçao.

Between 1977 and 1979, she held four solo exhibitions at the Galería Libertas, the Centro Pro Arte, and the Cultureel Centrum Curaçao. She studied at the Art Students League in New York under the guidance of American artist Knox Martin (1978-1980). In New York, she exhibited at the Art Students League and the Women’s Art Gallery.

Between 1981 and 1983, she returned to the Art Students League under the mentorship of sculptor José de Creeft. Jean Girigori has extensively exhibited her work in important galleries, museums, and cultural centers throughout the Caribbean, the United States, Latin America, and Europe.