Appropriation: Black Hair & Black Culture
My Senior IS Art Exhibit is meant to bring awareness to the people across the globe about one of the many things that have been stolen from Black people... our culture. To be more specific, our hair culture. I pay homage to the black owned barbershops and salons I’ve sat waiting on my mother, sister, aunt, uncle and brother in throughout my younger years. Explicitly, a barbershop called Paramount Barbershop located on Ponce de Leon and walking distance from one of the neighborhoods I like to call home, Old Fourth Ward. The women in my family would get their eyebrows arched there and the men in my family would get their haircuts there. I never got the chance to get any of those experiences, but I do remember the loads of black hair posters and stacks of black hair magazines I would look through while I waited hours for them to be finished.
The combinations of colors I selected to use were inspired by the beautiful fabrics I saw online that originated in Africa. Combinations such as yellow, black, green and red can be detected in some of the designs which represent the colors of Pan Africa. Red stands for the blood shared amongst people of African descent. Black symbolizes the people. Green represents the abundance of natural wealth in Africa. Yellow is used to signify the richness of the mother land and the warmth of the sun.
Donyea Ruffin ‘20
Advisor: Erin Ikeler
All images copyright © 2020 Donyea Ruffin. All rights reserved.
Black Hair & Black Culture. Markers, paper. 2020.
Bantu Knots. Markers, paper. 23" x 17.5". 2020.
S-Curl w/ Full Beard & Mustache. Markers, paper. 23" x 17.5". 2020.
Chunky Feed-In Braids Updo Bun. Markers, paper. 19.5" x 12.75". 2020.
Cornrows. Markers, paper. 35.5 " x 23". 2020.
Crochet Goddess Faux Locs. Markers, paper. 35.5 " x 23". 2020.