In the search for contemporary black female identity the concern with being physically and sexually attrac­tive is a useful site at which to examine the emergence of femininity and the numerous possibilities it opens up for the re-articulation of new identities through the practices of artifice. In a time where images of race and representation have become a contemporary obsession, hair, seemingly the most superficial part of the human body remains an object of intense elaboration and preoccupation in many societies. Hair is a multivalent, deeply symbolic material that is employable as a metaphor for broader societal issues. The physical and material inclusion of hair in art is a contemporary…

Photograph courtesy of Kyle Mijlof http://kylemijlof.blogspot.com/  Detail of the installation of The Black Threat in the Michealis building as presented for the graduate exhibition. The hair descends through the center of the building from the ground floor through to the fourth floor.