Summer BRAIDS

2026
Mixed Media, Acrylic on cardboard
44 × 50 in

Summer Braids celebrates the playfulness, beauty, and versatility of Black hair. Growing up, I remember watching my cousins transform their hair throughout the summer—braids, curls, beads, and styles that seemed to change with their mood and imagination.

I still remember their braids waving as they ran along the beach and the clanking of colorful beads moving with them. Those sounds and movements became part of summer itself.

As a child, I watched their hair blossom almost like flowers—changing, growing, and becoming another way for them to play and express themselves. The beads, braids, curls, and color in this painting are a celebration of that freedom.

Summer Braids is about seeing Black hair not simply as something we style, but as something alive with personality, culture, memory, movement, and joy.