Tokyo Brown

“I’ve been doing digital art for two years, but I’ve been drawing for about 6 or 7 years,” says 20-year-old digital artist, Tokyo Brown.

something familiar to their eye yet it’s different and it’s colorful. It attracts people’s attention.

do things for exposure, but exposure doesn’t pay the bills.

Council of the Arts and such luminaries as Anastacia Larmonie, Josiane Artsen Fleming, and Mavis Brooks-Solomon. These were some of the teachers instrumental in maintaining that space for the youth of St Maarten through events such as the Children’s Book Week, and multiple other creative outlets done with productions, elementary schools, and high schools.

So really and truly, I grew up in St Maarten at a time when there was such a nurturing atmosphere for young people. And there was a group of elders - the St Maarten Council of the Arts, Mr. Camille Bailey, and Miss Scott to name a few. So many people were in involved with children’s lives.

And I was one of those beneficiaries of that atmosphere where there was such a nurturing atmosphere for young people to find their space.

It’s just a part of who I am. I’ve identified as an artist, as a creative being, as a creative, expressive person, and opportunities were made available to me to fully engage in all things creative and expressive. I participated in them and in safe, nurturing spaces. So I could sing, could dance, I could act, I could run, could jump. I could fly, I could soar in my magnificence of finding myself in that creative space.

Living and breathing within the artist space, I didn’t think of what art meant to me. knew it was a place that received me, embraced me, and allowed me to be me as was meant to be as a creative being. But when I see it today as an educator, and see the benefits of it, to know that really and wholly understand that artistry is literally fulfilling the best of our self, of our humanity.

Involving with the arts allows us to fulfill our full human potential. We reach our intellectual high. We reach our intel- lectual pinnacle - the zenith of the fullness of our humanity through the arts. And artistry is not necessarily just singing and dancing.

Artistry is the excellence of our self, the best part of our humanity, the elevated, the spiritual, the cosmic connection of excellence and execution - excellence in discovery, excellence in voice, excellence and finding voice, excellence in discourse, in critical thinking, and creative thinking. So artistry is really an all-encompassing experience to where the humanity fulfills its destiny, its purpose of transcending limitations placed upon them.

So being an artist is the connection to a complete plug and connection. Tapping into the creative energy of the creator and allowing us to find the best of ourselves through our talents. Through the thing that makes us whole and rich and dense.” started creating erotic digital art, because I saw there was no black representation in the area I was interested in. also love how strong our black men are naturally, so draw a lot of physically strong men. find a bit of inspiration everywhere — music, mainly in literature, and film.

“I developed my skills through lots of practice — recreating already existing art until developed my style and no longer needed to recreate. I can just draw my own.

For me, the black female body is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The different skin tones and the curves are gorgeous.

My goal is to create work people can relate to. It’s a bit out there, but people see

I believe that art has a huge role in society. Art is a way for artists to express themselves through whatever they feel is going on in this world. It can denounce or expose a lot of things that are happening. Things people may not want to talk about, but artists can put it in their art and show that this is the truth — bringing awareness to the situation.

I think art is like a superpower. We have this talent of being able to draw, paint, or make music. It’s not something everybody can do, but we can do it, and we can make whatever we want.

But it’s hard to make a living if you want to do this full-time. If you’re passionate about art, you can’t survive strictly off it.

Being an artist in St. Maarten, I feel like people don’t take you as seriously as you take yourself. People try to underhand you and ask for you to

We’re not given our flowers as much as we should. We’re not being paid as much as we should. People want these extravagant works but don’t want to pay for them.

I think one thing that St. Maarten needs is a space where artists can showcase their work, be taken seriously, and be able to get paid jobs.

My support system is my mother and my best friends, because, with the type of art I make, people may not understand why I’m doing it. It has a deeper meaning than just erotica. It’s about representation. It can be discouraging when people don’t understand what I’m doing. But my mom and my best friends, they’ve always hyped me up and appreciate that.

Honestly, my message to the public is: support young local black artists, please! We are talented. We are more than capable, and we need that recognition from our people.”