IDââ NTiTY FABRiC
iDââ NTiTY FABRiC
a bruk out experience to create an understanding of how all of us bearing the caribbean identity are interconnected through resilience, resourcefulness, and an unwavering desire to thrive.
identity fabric is currently on exhibit at king manor museum from july-september.
a bruk out experience to create an understanding of how all of us bearing the caribbean identity are interconnected through resilience, resourcefulness, and an unwavering desire to thrive.
identity fabric is currently on exhibit at king manor museum from july-september.
scroll down to learn more.
meet the curator
meet the artists
meet the curator
Sharifa (she/her)
Sharifa Khan is a seasoned creative based in Jamaica. Queens and is the founder of Bruk Out; a self-proclaimed unruly and rebellious Creative Agency empowering the Caribbean diaspora to tap into modes of radical expression through shamelessly disrupting generational stigmas of what is considered "culturally correct".
MEET THE ARTISTS:
SUCHITRA MATTAI
SHERESE FRANCIS
CYDNE COLEBY
SHIVANE CHANDOOL
AKILAH WATTS
AHMRII JOHNSON
ALANIS FORDE
NADIA SHARIFA
SUELYN CHOO
ANA PAULA TEIXEIRA
ANFERNEE SMART
SARAH DREPAUL
SHARIFA KHAN
MORELYS URBANO
via chucha studios
scroll down TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE artist, THEIR PIECE, AND HOW TO CONTACT THEM:
indo-caribbean based in l.a
meet the artist
suchitra mattai
Suchitra Mattai (b.1973 Georgetown, Guyana) is a multi-disciplinary artist of Indo-Caribbean descent. Her work explores how collective and individual memory and the space of myth and folklore allow us to unravel and re-imagine colonial histories and narratives. Using both her own familyâs history and her research of colonial indentured labor during the 19th century, Mattai seeks to expand our sense of âhistory.â Suchitra received an MFA in painting and drawing and an MA in South Asian art from the University of Pennsylvania.
Her recent projects include a commission for the Sharjah Biennial 14, âState of the Art 2020â at Crystal Bridges Museum, group exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the Sarasota Museum of Art, the Utah MOCA, and a solo exhibition at the Boise Art Museum. Upcoming projects include a solo exhibition at Kavi Gupta Gallery and group exhibitions at the MCA Chicago and the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Her works are represented in collections which include Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, and the Tampa Museum of Art. She is represented by Kavi Gupta Gallery (Chicago) and K Contemporary Art (Denver).
about the piece
âA poem for D and Dâ narrates a history of colonization through the eyes of a young Guyanese girl. The backdrop for this work is made of 19th C prints. The patterned pages are from the British book âA Grammar of Ornament,â which is a beautiful and problematic colonial book that acts as a compendium of ornament from around the world. It essentializes and simplifies civilizations and cultures. The black and white image is from a colonial book describing various European colonizersâ exploits in âforeignâ lands. The girl is an image from a Saturday Evening Post that I have repainted and reclaimed. Collectively, the collage reveals a story of my familyâs past of indentured labor for my own children, D and D.â
Afro-Caribbean American
based in NYC
meet the artist
SHERESE FRANCIS
Sherese Francis is an Alkymist of the I-Magination and expresses her(e)self through poetry, interdisciplinary arts, workshop facilitation, editing, and literary curation. Her(e) work takes inspiration from her(e) Afro-Caribbean heritage (Barbados and Dominica), and studies in Afrofuturism and Black Speculative Arts, mythology and etymology. Some of her(e) work has been published in Furious Flower, Obsidian Lit, Rootwork Journal, Spoken Black Girl, The Operating System, Cosmonauts Avenue, No Dear, Apex Magazine, Bone Bouquet, African Voices, Newtown Literary, and Free Verse. Additionally, Sherese has published three chapbooks, Lucyâs Bone Scrolls (Three Legged Elephant), Variations on Sett/ling Seed/ling (Harlequin Creature), and Recycling a Why That Rules Over My Sacred Sight (DoubleCross Press).
about the piece
These pieces were created recently during the Artist Open Call cohort and exhibition about hair and plays on the concepts of cosmetology and hairstyling as a way of ordering and reordering oneself.
Samson/SameSun/SamSung/SameSong (KwasMeTology Series) is an art book and rice paper scroll inspired by the cutting of my own dreadlocks/locs, the story of Samson and Delilah, and the story of enslaved African women putting rice in their hair for the journey across the Atlantic. The piece uses cut pieces of my hair to reconstruct a kind of universe/sacred body/sacred ground and the rice in between the weaving of the hair on the cover act as both seeds and stars. Inside the cover, is the poem on the scroll, which represents the rice's own reconstruction into a scroll, is written in calligraphy mimicking the action of hairstyling. The entire piece reflects on how we reconstruct ourselves after trauma and loss.
Ntutu Isi Nkemdiche (KwasMeTology Series) is a mixed media piece also made with pieces of my loc'd hair to construct a constellation on a veil, and is inspired by divination work with the questions about hair becoming a dressing of oneself
Bahamian based in
nassau, bahamas
meet the artist
Cydne Jasmin Coleby
A dual self-portrait, Can We Meet Halfway? illustrates an internal dialogue of my efforts to make peace with my "demons." On the right panel, you see a flatly painted depiction of myself, representing the polished "front-facing" version of my identity. In contrast, the portrait on the left panel depicts the manifestations of my trauma. Comprised of images of myself from different periods, as well as native Bahamian flora, fauna, and geology, the college represents an amalgamation of experiences that have resulted in the person I am today. As a post-colonial society, generational trauma is inescapable in our collective and personal histories as Bahamians and Caribbean people. My use of native ecological images acknowledges that my environment acts as an incubator, providing ideal conditions for emotional wounds to fester and grow - even if it doesn't appear so on the surface. Somewhat grotesque yet arrestingly beautiful, the collage reflects my understanding that life is complicated and messy, but despite these things, it can come together in profoundly magnificent ways.
indo-caribbean based in nyc
meet the artist
SHIVANE CHANDOOL
The ancestry black and white project is a collection of photos that contain individual pieces of jewelry or clothing that are directly from their indo-Caribbean ancestry. With the models captured in this picture under the stole that they share encompasses the sisterhood bond that they share. The models Seema and Aneela are both of Indo-Caribbean descent. This project was in collaboration with Reshma Persaud for her ancestry journal book. Capturing this composition in portrait and edited in Black and White.
afro-caribbean based in barbados
meet the artist
meet the artist
AKILAH WATTS
Akilah Watts (b. 1996) is a Barbadian Contemporary Artist who received her BFA in 2017 and went on to participate in Prizm Art Fair of that same year. Watts works with a number of media to create multiple bodies of work and has exhibited locally (Barbados) and internationally(New York, San Francis- co, Miami, etc.) in several exhibitions. Watts hosted her first solo show in March 2019 and she was recently part of an exhibition at the World Trade Centre in New York.
She has also been featured online in exhibitions, auctions, articles, and shops such as Artsy, Les iles and Good Black Art. Watts has been featured in a few local publications such as the Easy magazine and the M People magazine and internationally online on Artsy, Art-LeadHER and Artnet. Watts is currently working on multiple bodies of work. One focuses on her relationship with natural hair and her Caribbean roots, while another body of work entitled âMoments From My Island Homeâ is her way of bridging the gap between the realistic and the idealistic view of her island Barbados.
about the piece
I am interested in depicting a black Barbadian experience. My work focuses a lot on my own personal experience as a black Barbadian Artist but I also touch on a more general Caribbean experience in some of my works. I use imagery such as fruits and vegetables I would have grown up seeing, Barbadian folklore character(Mother Sally), seascapes and landscapes as well as many prints traditionally found on fabric in old Barbadian homes.
My main goal is to instill a feeling of Nostalgia and or curiosity in the people who view my work. I want the viewer to be entranced in a style of Caribbean art that feels familiar but still relatable. One of my bodies of work features a character that I call the âAcretiaâ, she is a spiritual entity whose continence bestows confidence, grace, and beauty on whomever she inhabits. When a person is inhabited by the Acretia they take on a look of regality which intern makes the viewer pay attention to the message being conveyed.
My newest body of work entitled Moments From My Island Home, focuses on bridging the gap between the realistic and the idealistic view of my island Barbados. In this series I explore themes of Identity and belonging, as well as culture. I am interested in creating work that is authentic to my Barbadian experience in its truest forms and this is one of the reasons I use family photos and identification photos(ping pongs) in some of the works in this series.
afro-caribbean based in nyc
meet the artist
AHMRII JOHNSON
Often referencing Black and Indigenous perspectives of history, my work explores philosophy at the intersection of fashion, fine art, and holistic wellness. My artwork and design systems reimagine the circularity of human behavior across social, political, cultural, and spiritual relations. I engage with the dualities of culture and the enigma of humanity ( the phenomenon of experiencing oneself through the connectivity of others). My projects often consist of multiple works, in a range of different media, grouped around specific themes. Each painting, garment, and accessory is linked by Afro-Caribbean iconography. I center the femme body around surrealist painted scenes that also interact with the four dimensional body as soft sculpture clothing. My work treats self exploration as a critical research methodology, and is a take on the philosophy of healing and rediscovering ones' self in order to be a mirror of resonance to the healing and wellness of others.
about the piece
"A Higher Choice" is a piece inspired by the Lovers tarot card in the traditional 78 card deck. The Lovers card is part of the 22 Major Arcana cards that represent life's karmic and spiritual lessons. At the closure of a particularly difficult time of healing, I learned the deep value of three different variations of the Lovers. This painting depicts the relationship to a higher calling, and the use of partnership to uplift oneâs self for the greater good of all. I learned that love is a journey of greater purpose than self satisfaction. The union of souls is an event that should benefit the environment and social stratosphere of those it impacts. Love is never just for oneself, but to be a source of inspiration and growth for all it touches. I have to come to see the union of love as a tool of external and internal progression.
afro-caribbean based in barbados
meet the artist
ALANIS FORDE
Alanis Forde is a contemporary Barbadian artist who specializes in expressionistic realism portraiture. Primarily employing oil paint and collage. Alanis navigates life through a portrayed paradise that questions concepts based on black female identity in an idealized,
exotic, Caribbean space. By portraying herself and her reality. Forde questions the meaning of escape and paradise as someone who dwells in a place that is a paradise and escape for others. Both introspective and escapist, Fordeâs work depicts her ongoing conflict between comfort at home and the desire to escape the ironic paradise she exists within. Forde currently lives and works in Barbados.
about the piece
I am interested in escapism and what it means to live in a paradise space that is seen as a vacation or escape for others. What then is my escape? My paradise? That âthirdâ escape is what I am searching for. By creating my own paradisiacal landscapes a new concept emerges. Through my continued research culminating in the body of work I have created, I steer the conversation between feeling comfortable in my homeland and wanting to escape. There is a continuous dialogue between the figures and the paradise itâs submerged within. The use of dotted textures and vibrant patterns allows the viewerâs eye to be in constant motion, transporting them into paradisiacal spaces. The reoccurring figure is a proxy named Bubbles characterised by her electric blue hair and red lips. Bubbles navigates these landscapes documenting the essence of what it means to be both trapped and free of paradise.
indo-caribbean based in nyc
meet the artist
Nadia Sharifa Mohamad
Nadia Mohamad is a fine artist from Queens, NY with a background in drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media. Having obtained her BFA from Saint John's University, she is trained in the visual arts and has been developing her individual voice and style since her time in academic study. Nadia's collection of work demonstrates a compositional and conceptual skill set that is unique to her artistic process. Her oeuvre has an evocative and striking approach to mark-making, color, and subject matter. Nadia's sources of inspiration stem from an interest in challenging the boundaries of her gender role within the context of her Indo-Guyanese heritage; cultural motifs and iconography; and Caribbean literature, music, and dance.
about the piece
âForce Ripeâ and âHard Ayz (Hard Ears)â are pieces about the embodiment of Caribbean womanhood. There is a duality to women with roots in the West Indies. It is born of the intersection between our expressive musical and dance traditions, and the intergenerational conservative and domestic values which emphasize religion and limitations on the gender role. Caribbean arts celebrate feminine presence and physicality, while social practice favors their suppression. Jamaica Kincaidâs short story, âGirlâ illustrates the contradictions of the social environments that raised us. Most of us grow up walking the line. We are choosing self expression despite being shamed or hypersexualized for it. I wanted to know what it feels like to choose my womanhood rather than be diagnosed with it, and through my choice of materials, color, and composition, I explored self expression as a dichotomous being.
Indo-Chinese Trinbagonian based in t&t
meet the artist
Suelyn Choo
Suelyn Choo is an emerging, multifaceted Trinidadian artist and organizer. After receiving a prestigious scholarship in Art and Design from the Government of her country, she completed a BSc in Biochemistry with a minor in Women's Studies from the University of Delaware in 2017. After returning to Trinidad, she helped facilitate a collaborative mural project that foregrounded the fight against gender-based violence. Balancing a career at the Ministry of Health with compelling creative projects, she co-founded Acute An9le (@acutean9le) in 2018, which saw her directing and styling photoshoots for sharp new talent and veteran designers alike, such as IDLEWOODbespoke and Meiling Inc. Through Acute An9le, she explored the intersection of her Chinese and Indian heritages through the ornamentation of the body, which sparked an interest in presentation and perception of the self in private and public spaces. She seeks to answer these questions through work which includes self-taught painting, photography, makeup, fashion, and dance. In 2020, she showcased figure drawings in a group show at Alice Yard and collaborated with producer and DJ BlasĂŠ Vanguard on a performance, Red Envelope, that explored music, movement and fashion. In 2021, she exhibited paintings in a group show Relative and collaborated on a performance piece instigated by noted artist Chris Cozier, that was shown at the IDB Healing a Broken World virtual summit. Currently, she is finishing her performance piece, Pariaâs Pearl, which explores her relationship to her familyâs migration and assimilation which constructed a Trini-Chinese identity; it is scheduled for performance in 2022 and was facilitated by Alice Yard and screened in documenta fifteen.
about the piece
My work explores the presentation of the self in private and public spaces. My art is one of testimony, witness and lived experience. All my work â whether my painting practice, bodily ornamentation, creative direction and styling â transforms private, intimate conversations I have with my subconscious into public display. I am invested in the interplay between solitude and the social; the performance and mirroring that occurs when you share a space with others, leaving the private to enter the public, leaving the public to return to the private. I am interested in the ways the public intrudes, corrodes and impacts the private self. I'm challenging the purpose of the seemingly ordinary act of getting ready to present ourselves publicly. I'm asking whether makeup & dress is a conciliatory mask, the revelation of the core of oneself, or something else entirely â a suspension within this moment of dressing and undressing, a liminal space where the truth of human behaviour is revealed.
indo-caribbean based in philly
meet the artist
Sarah Rohani Drepaul
Sarah Drepaul is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural worker based in Philadelphia and is soon relocating to California.
Her work is deeply informed by her experience as a first-generation, Indo-Caribbean native New Yorker. In partnership with her wider community, she merges poetry and filmmaking to rethink sexuality, spirituality and how memory resides in the body. Her understanding of âcinemaâ was learned through the embodied and visceral storytelling of her grandma and aunties. She is currently interested in reframing the âcoming of ageâ narrative as more inclusive and genre-bending. She is driven by the healing capabilities of artâand how vulnerability is not always easy but essential for our collective liberation.
about the piece
My trip to Guyana in April 2022 was marked by heaviness: my uncleâs death, my dadâs return after a 40 year absence, my first visit. This transmuted into: the fever dream of documenting a place and people--a subliminal countryâthat built me but is completely unknown to meâ was suddenly in front of me. These images represent what survives of oral storytelling: fabric that has defined my Caribbean life as much as it has distinguished it.
Clothing I've seen my ancestors wear is proof of my roots. In Skeldon Aunties there is an overwhelming sense that theyâve been leaning against this stand foreverâ I donât want to romanticize that, rather ground myself in the simplicity and power of the ways we prepare ourselves to arrive in our bodies each day through fabric. Whether that be at the marketplace or the wake of your brotherâs funeral, (as in Unlce Davidâs portrait).â
This agency has a collective impactâa distinctly Caribbean pride to honor this body as my own. Wearing gold is how I own my body in places, like America, that try to erase it. Seeing gold in Guyana is owning the sensibility and lineage gold has given us; moves through me like faith. It is understanding the ways we arrive at each other, again and again.
My photographs intend to embody that timelessness (the muted film tones show the familiarity I was feeling, after all).
indo-caribbean based in nyc
meet the artist
sharifa khan
Sharifa Khan is a seasoned creative based in Jamaica. Queens and is the founder of Bruk Out; a self-proclaimed unruly and rebellious Creative Agency empowering the Caribbean diaspora to tap into modes of radical expression through shamelessly disrupting generational stigmas of what is considered "culturally correct".
about the piece
âIsland Timeâ is a multi-part series that seeks to use style and set design to showcase culture across all Caribbean identities. The series seeks to create an experience of the Caribbean diaspora that transmits beyond the lens.
Empowered by vibrant colors in coordination with textured fabrics in a stylized editorial manner; âIsland Timeâ creates a narrative of what it truly means to be unruly, and rebellious- a Caribbean.â
sharifa@brukout.media
PUERTO RICAN BASED IN PUERTO RICO
meet the artist
Ana Paula Teixeira Torres
Ana Paula Teixeira is a nonbinary and queer filmmaker and photographer whose work captures the escapism of the queer community in the Caribbean. Their use of mysticism and the divine gaze empowers the beauty and history of queerness through esoteric points of view. They visually attempt to explain the wonders of this world with narratives rooted in folklore and ancestral storytelling set in a contemporary Caribbean landscape. Ana also documents the underground queer community around them using film photography; focusing on the local ballroom culture, nightlife portraiture, and the nautural landspaces of the island. Their work has been published on Refinery29, Paper Magazine, Ladygunn, and Subvrt Mag; and have been in exhibitions throughout New York, Baltimore, and Puerto Rico. They hold a B.A in Digital Film Production from Sagrado Corazon, and their senior film thesis "Divina Gracia" has been nominated and won at numerous festivals. Their upcoming short âSee Ya L8Râ will be screening around New York City and San Juan through the months of July and August.
about the piece
The photography of Ana Paula Teixeira Torres are all intentional works, from the people selected in front of their camera to the film used. The pieces were photographed in different natural sites of Puerto Rico (such as bodies of water, which are considered sacred to the artist) to urban landscapes of San Juan. Ana Paula chooses performers/artists that carry a powerful entity within them, and the environment surrounding them compliment this aura. All of these photographs carry intentions of reconnecting to the motherland, and channeling the energy of the environment into the photo/people themselves.
JAMAICAN BASED IN L.A
meet the artist
ANFERNEE SMART
My name is Anfernee Smart, I currently live in LA. Iâm of Jamaican descent, originally from Miami born and raised. After graduating high school I then moved to New York to pursue my styling career where I resided for 5 years. Iâll always consider NY home for many different reasons but mainly because it molded me into the person I am today. Which is confident, courageous, and fearless. I consider myself to be âgroundbreakingâ because Iâm always thinking outside the box and Iâm never afraid to take a leap of faith. Holding a certain level of trust within myself helps drive me to do the things that I know I am capable of doing. If thereâs one thing I learned on this journey called life itâs always have faith and most importantly to just trust the process.
about the piece
âBashment Gyalâ is a series Iâve been working on for the past 2 years. Itâs a representation of the Dancehall community in Jamaica as well as much of the inspiration is pulled from my moms personal archive. My mom âSonyaâ was well-known in her dancehall era throughout the 80âs and 90âs for her fashion and style which is why I decided to dedicate this series to her as well as the many other âIT GIRLSâ of that era.
the featured subject
Morelys Urbano is afro-latino based in maryland
meet the artist
Herrana Addisu,
ceo of chucha studios
Herrana Addisu is a multi-disciplinary artist and human rights specialist. Her family's journey to the United States alongside her personal experience growing up in Ethiopia and immigrating to the U.S. have shaped her career in human rights. She works to uplift marginalized communities through advocacy initiatives including research and programming.
She incorporates her expertise in various human rights issues into her artistry through creative direction, production, and modeling.
about the piece
âWelcome Homeâ is a photography series that brings visibility to the voices of three Black immigrants to tell a story of resilience, strength, and community.
Chucha Studios met the three âWelcome Homeâ storytellers through a network that supports Black immigrants. These three storytellers come from diverse backgrounds and regions ranging from the Caribbean to Africa including individuals from traditionally underrepresented groups such as the LGBTQ2S+ community. The series was led by a talented team of Black creatives based in New York and highlights Black-owned clothing brands.
Chucha Studios is a creative platform and production studio that aims to reduce social disparities within marginalized communities by connecting the art of visual storytelling with systemic change.