Artist Statement
 

My work explores the identity of the Virgin Islands. The work aims to engage residents in dialogue to promote a stronger unified, and inclusive Virgin islands with a bold identity. As a Virgin Islander with ancestral lineage and ties to sister islands, the goal is to showcase the African diaspora's story in the Caribbean and its contributions to the international community. Each Caribbean island has similar colonial stories with nuances that have shaped each island's perspective identity. Utilizing the mediums of photography, mixed media artistry, and docu-cinema, my work revels in Caribbean people's bold identities. It removes the guise and false narratives of European narratives regarding people of color in the Caribbean. 

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Stephanie Chalana Brown is a visual artist using the mediums of both photography and cinematography. Chalana's work explores coloniality and identity in the Caribbean, especially in the Virgin Islands, where she was born and raised. Her first fine art collection entitled, The Madras that Binds All Ah We," inspired by the poem from Virgin Islands writer, Richard Schrader, received strong praise. The art series was used to advocate for Bill 33-0226 of the Virgin Islands legislature establishing an official Virgin Islands madras. As a documentarist, Chalana has produced several broadcast programs, including Griot and Foodie Insider, which currently airs on local broadcast networks along with the Virtual Crucian Cultural Cuisine dialogues chronicling the Virgin Islands traditional foodways. Chalana is presently working on a project exploring the evolution of Virgin Islands identity thru history, fashion, photography, and fabric entitled "E³: Exploration, Evolution, and Effectuation" as well as "Claiming Spaces: A Re-discovery of Virgin Islands historic sugar mills and spaces."