LOVE & JUSTICE

Through intricate hair sculptures, a young African woman connects with her culture and confronts injustices.

Ky began creating provocative hair sculptures five years ago as she reflected on her childhood growing up in Ivory Coast, seeking “to reconcile myself with my African heritage.” She and other Ivorians have had to work to overcome an inferiority complex rooted in colonialism and White supremacy. This complex manifests in disdain for their own dark skin, natural hair, and traditions, as well as their embrace of Western culture and harmful practices such as skin bleaching. As Ky began to love herself, she also started researching her culture and history, which she was not taught in school. Her debut book is a stunning collection of urgent, intimate essays paired with powerful, annotated photos of Ky wearing her hair sculptures, often in lush outdoor Ivorian settings. Seamlessly marrying style and substance, the sculptures and essays reveal the author’s journey of self-acceptance, raise awareness of a wide range of social issues, and celebrate African aesthetic and spiritual traditions. The sculptures include Ky’s hair fashioned into African instruments and animals; a person inside a cage to symbolize racial discrimination; and, in a section on gender inequality and household labor, an iron, a vacuum, and other domestic items. Other sculpture-essay pairings address women’s sexuality, reproductive rights (Ky wears her hair as a pregnant belly with a fetus inside), misogyny and double standards, rape culture, child marriage, education, and much more. A series of brief, empowering essays—with messages like “change your focus,” “examine your relationships,” and “face your fears”—and corresponding hair sculptures round out the collection. Ky’s works are so unique that when she first shared them on Instagram in 2017, her posts went viral and caused some to think the images were digitally altered. But this artwork and Ky’s passion for justice are real and inspiring.

Come for the beautiful art as activism, stay for the deeply personal memoir and rich cultural history.