Kelsey-Marie Mohammed

Artist Statement

I was born in Brooklyn to Trinidadian parents. I didn't fully realize that I was a first-generation American while living in Brooklyn because there were so many other Caribbean residents in my neighborhood of Crown Heights. My parents and I moved to Raleigh, NC when I was 6 years old, and that was the moment I felt it. Although my skin was brown, I often felt like I didn't belong. I had an accent, ethnic last name and just looked different.
This piece, entitled Tantie's Day Off, represents the intersection of nuances being a first-generation Black woman, raised in a very Caribbean household. The colors are bright, representing the Caribbean. The tantie (word for aunt in the Caribbean), appears as a Black woman, but if she opened her mouth, she would be subjected to questions like "what are you?"
These are the intersections of me.