Jenae Christopher

Unveil, 2021

My name is Jenae Christopher, and I was born in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. I am a student at Florida State University pursuing an MFA degree in Studio Art. I am currently a Drawing Foundations instructor and have served as president of the League of Graduate Artists. In 2020, I received a BFA degree in Visual Arts from Miami International University of Art & Design in Miami, Florida. I use charcoal drawings and three-dimensional installations to interrogate themes of place, coloniality, cultural identity and hybridity, violence, and memory. My work aims to develop an awareness of my Caribbean culture and history and to examine contemporary issues of my birthplace, the U.S. Virgin Islands, such as gun violence. There is also a part of my work where I explore Caribbean culture and black identity, connecting it to my roots and ancestral history. This exploration began with my daily experiences and personal memories such as braiding hair or participating in a cultural dance in my childhood.

I focus on a narrative process and use objects and materials that relate to personal experiences, memories, or research. For example, I use materials such as sugar to reference the history of sugar production and enslaved African workers in the Virgin Islands. I also examine colored fabrics woven in madras patterns to reference the history of the fabric and its involvement in culture and traditions such as the quadrille on my home island. When I use charcoal, I consider it an expressive tool. It allows me to draw more gesturally and freely and to be less detailed. Drawing with charcoal also reminds me of historical and archival images because of the blurred result. I keep discovering ways to connect my ideas to history because everything in the Virgin Islands is a product of colonial history. My Caribbean identity, my Caribbean culture, my Caribbean family, and my Caribbean home are the result of colonialism.

Artwork Description

Unveil represents a cultural exploration between West Africa and the Virgin Islands. I allude to the history and tradition of masquerades brought to the Caribbean through the Middle Passage. While masquerades in West Africa are ceremonial and convey religious meanings, in the Caribbean they are more celebratory and displayed in carnival scenes. In this headdress, I used these materials to represent the two places while showing the connection between the two in their costumes. The opening zipper reveals the madras patterns embellished with sequins to enhance the Virgin Islands aesthetic in a carnival setting. The mask is 32 x 21 inches and is made of fabric, raffia, cowrie shells, sequins, and ribbons.