Anika Plowden-Corentin is a visual story-teller from Trinidad and Tobago. Her accolades include receiving the People’s Choice Award at the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago’s 75th Members Exhibition, May 2018; the award for the Best 2-Dimensional Piece at the Women In Art Exhibition in September 2018, and the best oil painting in 2019. Her work was also featured in the Women In Art Inaugural Calendar 2019, as well as the Carifesta Exhibition that same year. In 2020, her ‘Angel Belles’ were central to the International Women’s Day Exhibition held at the Red House Rotunda Gallery in Trinidad and Tobago. Anika is the founder and creative director of the non-profit Chosen Hands (Art and Wellness Program). She and her team work with at risk/vulnerable youths, using creativity as a positive vehicle for self-expression. She is concerned with authentically using her voice to explore the nuances of life as a black, Caribbean woman and first generation academic and artist. Her ‘Dancing Belles’ explore the potential of girls/women to soar, thrive and ultimately win in the face of adversity. The belle is a heavily textured female figure with outreached arms in movement and in flight; rising above factors in life which attempt to oppress or restrict women’s success Anika holds a BSc. in Sociology with Human Resource Management, MSc. Sociology ( UWI) and MBA- Henley Business School Reading.

Click image below to watch the video on Facebook!