About

Stephanie Brown grew up in South Florida at the intersection of her Jamaican and Black American identities. Broadly her work is a reflection of her internal self/ancestral exploration. The work is a historical yet critical investigation of identity construction and implicit and explicit bias. Stephanie has dedicated much of her art practice to explore how people of color construct their identities within the greater context and confines of racial constructs, systematic racism, the concept of tradition, and the global phenomenon of colorism. In turn, she critically investigates the evolution, construction, and development of her own identity as a first-generation American.

Stephanie holds a BFA in Photography from Savannah College of Art and Design and an MFA degree in Interdisciplinary Art and Museum Studies Certificate from the University of Michigan. She visually navigates the concepts in her work with photography, object making, creative writing, and interactive installation to create thought-provoking imagery and dialogue that ultimately challenge narratives in the world that inform who we choose to be as individuals.

Stephanie identifies as an interdisciplinary artist interweaving mediums to narrate a greater contextual story rooted in historical research and familial narratives that aim to empower people of color to discover themselves and take control of who they choose to be and become. Her artistic practice and identity are fed by her experiences and mold the relationship she explores between the States, the Caribbean, and Africa. Stephanie intends for her work to guide disconnected identities floating on the ghost-trails of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade to a greater sense of honor, belonging, and home. No matter where melanin-rich people may find themselves, their presence, culture, and historical influence are there to be discovered. Where these influences are found, new connections to their identity are collected, which help reframe and construct who they are, who they know themselves to be, and who they choose to become.