About K Brown
K Brown‘s story mirrors that of the Little Mermaid, entering the fairy tale world of fashion at the cost of her voice. What broke her spell, though, was not the kiss of a handsome prince, but the freedom of expression found in making art. Her old self was constricted by the expectations and judgement of ‘the industry’, but now she has torn those pieces to shreds and used those shards to compose incredible collages that embody her new life, her true life. Her works embody their own magic, with patterns and textures overlaying one another to form worlds that draw viewers in further and further, like their own enclosed tale. Above all else, she hopes that in showcasing her own creations she can also elevate the works of other women and femmes who are transcending beyond ideals and presumptions others frame them in. Her art is more than a reckoning; it is a liberation from an archaic world that exists in what is now fiction.
New Brunswick Art Salon 2021 – Oil and Mixed Media: “Bonds Beyond Time”
Artist’s Personal Website: https://kbrowncreated.com
Email: kbrowncreated@gmail.com
Artist Statement
For me, as for many- when I entered the fairy tale world of fashion the price of admission was my voice. As in the code I had to switch to, and the processes both of thought and chemical put upon my natural hair. Even if I was seeing red a smile was required as a stranger or photographer reached to touch, my hair, touch me — without asking.
Even as afterwards I was told my hair “wasn’t professional enough”, wasn’t “right for the shoot”. My natural self goes against the current of what should be a thriving career.
The city lights may make white glittering glass in the pavement look like diamonds. The Black Lives Matter movement made a reckoning on the fashion and magazine industry for the racism and sexism, misogyny, addiction and assault.
So I made art. I drew my broken bones over my old advertisements and lacerated the imposter syndrome with scissors. I slashed my old business cards and cut my old designs out of the magazines. I ripped the old fashions and made headwraps. I poured art into the old versions of myself and turned a new page. As my country realizes the type of magic women and femmes like me can create, we are transcending the ideas and projections of frame not made for us. That world does not exist anymore.