Spotlight Artist

Alicia Brown

South
Artist profile photo

I am driven by the idea of the forced and voluntary migration of people from the Caribbean region and the struggle to navigate spaces that are both familiar and unfamiliar. My work is invested in strategies for survival, the relationships humans form with

Woman in green shirt with lace collar stands among banana trees, looking over her shoulder.

oil on canvas

Foreign sweetie

Woman with long braids sits serenely outdoors, wearing a blue suit and floral collar, rainbow behind.

oil on canvas, oil on canvas

I was a queen in my mother’s land

Person with a pool float and shorts standing in a sunlit forest, turkey in the background.

oil on canvas

Featured in New American Paintings1 / 3

Artist Statement

 I am driven by the idea of the forced and voluntary migration of people from the Caribbean region and the struggle to navigate spaces that are both familiar and unfamiliar. My work is invested in strategies for survival, the relationships humans form with other creatures and with the natural environment, and the influences these elements have on the formation of identity within the spaces we inhabit. I am particularly intrigued by mimicry in nature and the ways in which plants, insects, and animals utilize it to survive. The act of copying or imitating the dominant culture is evident in the formation of subcultures; necessary transformation occurs through patterning, body shape, behavior and mannerism, resulting in a class distortion associated with colonialism. I create works surrounding this duality, whose role in the formation of cultural identity is vital and constantly changing.

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