A Brown Girl in the Ring

In my piece A Brown Girl in the Ring I explore these tangible symbols of a home. A brightly painted pink house, a garden filled with orchids, breeze blocks, wrought iron, and that hummingbird feeder my mom makes sure it is full of fresh sugar water. That is my Caribbean home. Flowers are a familiar feature of many Caribbean houses, whether hibiscus plants, yellow buttercups, or vibrant red and yellow ixoras. Among these, ixoras hold a particularly special place in my memories of childhood. Recesses spent weaving together the flower for friends to wear as bracelets or necklaces. As I reminisced on days in primary school I thought back to the song Brown Girl in the Ring where the chosen girl would dance in the middle while friends created a circle around her, singing the song. These physical rings became a symbol of togetherness, community, and belonging. Thus, in the work, I place myself within that memory, as the brown girl in an embroidered ring, surrounded by those interlinked ixoras. The self-portrait depicts me wearing a saree, a traditional Indian garment. As an Indo-Trinidadian raised in a Christian household, some of my fondest memories come from celebrating alongside Hindu friends and relatives during Divali. Participating in traditions that weren't necessarily my own but still felt familiar. Those moments taught me that Caribbean identity is often built through connection and cultural exchange, creating spaces where traditions and religious boundaries become points of connection rather than division. This piece investigates how soul and home become, intertwining memory, place, and experience to shape who we are. 

When I think of the Caribbean soul, I think of memory. The places we move through. The people who shape us. And all the ordinary moments that slowly become home. Like the wind moving through a breeze block, these memories leave traces behind. And through those traces, we begin to see the shape of a soul.