Statement:

The Curl Canvas

The Curl Canvas is a series of portrait paintings that I created to promote the individuality and expressiveness in natural beauty. Nowadays, due to many social constructs in place, women and men of color feel pressured to look and act a certain way to feel beautiful, to get jobs, to impress others, or whatever the case may be. Women and men with naturally curly, kinky, or coily hair feel that they need to repress their natural forms and instead conform to social constructs which involve things like straightening hair, getting damaging perms or dyes, or wearing wigs or weaves. 

My hair is a big part of who I am, and for most of my life I’ve gotten used to straightening it even though my natural hair is curly and wavy. I started to read more about the curly hair movement and learned how to properly care for my hair. Many POC that I know have grown up getting used to straightening their hair instead of leaving it natural because they aren’t happy with their curls or don’t know how to manage them. Due to this natural hair movement that has started, more and more people are embracing their natural curls which emphasize a big part of who they are and their culture. 

The Curl Canvas aims to play a role in this natural hair movement and encourage people to love and accept their hair. I wanted to paint and depict portraits of different people wearing and embracing their natural hair. Most portraits are accompanied by an element of nature that symbolizes something or is part of the composition alongside the model. By adding the element of nature to these portraits, I wanted to bring awareness to the theme of naturalness. I was inspired by Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits, which often portray her surrounded by elements of nature such as leaves and flowers or different kinds of animals. 

Color plays an important part in this series as well. All the portraits in the series, with the exception of one digital piece that I decided to include, are made with gouache paint to portray the vivid colors of the skin and natural elements such as leaves and flowers. In using these vibrant colors, I aim to instantly attract the viewer to the beauty of the portrait and hope to get them to appreciate the value of naturalness. I wanted to include a digital painting I created on Procreate because it fit with the theme of my project, and the way that I paint digitally is very similar to the way that I paint traditionally.

The end goal of these portraits will showcase the beauty of naturalness that many are conditioned to be ashamed of and promote pride in natural hair. So, if you have natural curls or coils and have been too afraid to let them out, go out there and show them off! We love to see it!