Black hair functions as both aesthetic material and spiritual symbol in art

Evidence

By introducing a material like hair into his creative process, he fits explicitly in a visual search for his black cultural identity. For Hammons, hair is an aesthetic material of experimentation and also the symbol of a positive spirituality. Thus, he preserves its spiritual power when he uses it. Blacks’ hair also has a status value insofar as it is a physical sign associated with a racial membership. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2940

Categorization

• CANDY: A quick, surprising fact: an artist treating Black hair as a sacred aesthetic material.
• XREF: Connects to hair as identity marker in The Namesake and broader discussions of Black hair politics.