Adebunmi Gbadebo
b. 1992, United States
True Blue: Mary, Peter, Susanna, 2019
Human hair, cotton, rice paper, denim, hair dye, silk screen print
53x152x3cm
Gbadebo’s work “began out of a rejection of traditional art materials because of their association with Whiteness.” She also wanted to find a material and a history that “positions the people who looked like me as central to my practice.”
Her primary medium is human hair from people of the African Diaspora. “Our hair is so connected to our culture, politics, and history! It is history and DNA. The process of working with hair has allowed me to utilise my community as an integral part of my studio practice. Local barbershops and people’s homes have become my art store. My community helps me create every artwork! Strangers trust me to give a new purpose to their hair,” says the artist.
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Her primary medium is human hair from people of the African Diaspora. “Our hair is so connected to our culture, politics, and history! It is history and DNA. The process of working with hair has allowed me to utilise my community as an integral part of my studio practice. Local barbershops and people’s homes have become my art store. My community helps me create every artwork! Strangers trust me to give a new purpose to their hair,” says the artist.
