My paintings, initially abstract in appearance, record a day in a life—a practice that starts with documentation through the lens of a camera. My eyes act as a viewfinder, narrowing down the panoramic into single frames. Compiled snapshots represent blocks of time during which I detect aesthetic significance in ordinary routines. I see curious formal elements in common things waiting to be manipulated and transformed into abstract compositions.

Born in 1966, Washington, DC. Lives and works in New York, NY. Iona Rozeal Brown's most recent paintings are an unprecedented mixture of anonymous courtesans, geisha and other Japanese subjects. She explores the theme of Afro-Asiatic allegory, addressing the global influence of african american culture as fetish. Brown's work signals the energy, critical direction and complexity of contemporary practice that is engaged in a tenuous marriage of commerce and resistance. In her paintings, Brown intertextually juxtaposes color and texture, a technique that parallels her artistry as a DJ.