VCUarts Craft/Material Studies Chair Sonya Clark will be exhibiting “Follicular: The Hair Stories of Sonya Clark” at the Taubman Museum of Art from Saturday, October 1, 2016 to Sunday, May 14, 2017.
Clark’s work has featured hair and combs in the place of more traditional fibers and art making materials. She uses them to speak meaningfully about cultural heritage, gender, beauty standards, race, and identity while transforming hair accoutrements into sculptural objects. Preoccupied with the texture, styling and politics of black hair, Clark’s personal connection to the comb began like that of nearly every young girl, squirming on a chair while an adult armed with a comb and good intentions attempted to bring order to the disorder on her head.
“Hairdressers are my heroes. The poetry and politics of Black hair care specialists are central to my work.”
Through Clark’s new works, site-specific installations, and performances created for the museum, her exhibition explores hair as an indicator of race, social status, a symbol of age and authority, a statement of contemporary style, an object of beauty, and adornment.
Image: Sonya Clark, Pluck and Grow (detail), 2015 – present, dyed paper, 6’ x 4’, courtesy of Sonya Clark, provided by Taubman Museum of Art
Text: The Taubman Museum of Art + The Roanoker
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