Original
Oil on Canvas
50cm x 50cm
Signed
2025
The Inspiration
Hair can be pretty sacred to a lot of black and brown women, it's our crown.
So growing up and being bullied because of my curls. To sitting on my mums bedroom floor crying as she would drag a fine tooth comb through my dry hair. Then most of my hair falling out at 11, 13 and again at 15 years old due to alopecia.
I had a complicated relationship with my crown.
I felt a lot of shame and embarrassment for years, only through educating myself on proper hair care is where I found healing.
This is a 'Love Letter to My Hair' .. which is now my FAVOURITE part of me.
The Approach
Since studying sociology in college I've always been fascinated about themes of identity and perception. How you view yourself verses how others view you. Often it's others perception of us which ultimately shapes how we then see and treat ourselves (for deeper reading check out concepts like 'self-fulfilling prophecies').
This interest in social and philosophical thinkers then led to me to study mixed race artists such as Adrian Piper, a conceptual performance and visual artist who would explore concepts like "passing" in her work. "Passing", is a common concept in the mixed race community where you're able to ambiguously pass for different races, always bearing in mind that the 'whiter' you look, the more privilege you have (for deeper reading research 'light skin privilege').
You may feel slightly uneasy when viewing my portrait, as though something is 'off' but you can't quite put your finger on it.
That is because the image is completely mirrored, meaning all the facial features are doubled. There is no natural face that is 100% perfectly symmetrical. The mirror is to represent our two selves, how we perceive ourselves verses how others perceive us.
Original
Oil on Canvas
50cm x 50cm
Signed
2025
The Inspiration
Hair can be pretty sacred to a lot of black and brown women, it's our crown.
So growing up and being bullied because of my curls. To sitting on my mums bedroom floor crying as she would drag a fine tooth comb through my dry hair. Then most of my hair falling out at 11, 13 and again at 15 years old due to alopecia.
I had a complicated relationship with my crown.
I felt a lot of shame and embarrassment for years, only through educating myself on proper hair care is where I found healing.
This is a 'Love Letter to My Hair' .. which is now my FAVOURITE part of me.
The Approach
Since studying sociology in college I've always been fascinated about themes of identity and perception. How you view yourself verses how others view you. Often it's others perception of us which ultimately shapes how we then see and treat ourselves (for deeper reading check out concepts like 'self-fulfilling prophecies').
This interest in social and philosophical thinkers then led to me to study mixed race artists such as Adrian Piper, a conceptual performance and visual artist who would explore concepts like "passing" in her work. "Passing", is a common concept in the mixed race community where you're able to ambiguously pass for different races, always bearing in mind that the 'whiter' you look, the more privilege you have (for deeper reading research 'light skin privilege').
You may feel slightly uneasy when viewing my portrait, as though something is 'off' but you can't quite put your finger on it.
That is because the image is completely mirrored, meaning all the facial features are doubled. There is no natural face that is 100% perfectly symmetrical. The mirror is to represent our two selves, how we perceive ourselves verses how others perceive us.
