THERE are a lot of places to find good-looking braids. You can start in your local salon, hit up Pinterest, or even find the style on the red carpet. But until recently, you were probably pretty unlikely to find them on museum walls. Chicago-based artist Shani Crowe is looking to change that. As she states in the notes for her photography exhibit, “Braids,” which is on display at MoCADA (the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts) in Brooklyn, New York City through July, braiding is universal — but it strikes a particularly intimate chord with African-American women. That’s to whom she’s dedicated this series.

    The collection of images highlights insanely detailed and intricate braided updos, which Crowe created after years and years of practice.

    “As a child, I would get my hair braided every two weeks by one of my aunts or an older cousin,” she says. “I picked up the skill from watching my relatives braid, and practicing on dolls. When I was around 11, and my aunts couldn’t execute the designs I wanted, I began braiding [on] my own. I was a walking advertisement for myself, and ended up attracting clientele.”

    Who could ignore the Black-girl magic that radiates from every work in the 10-piece exhibit? This sort of representation is important to Crowe, and so is the underlying message of finding that magic within yourself. “Self-love is important for every person, especially women, and especially Black women because oppressed people suffer the systemic, cyclical effects of that oppression,” she says. “As long as you look for truth, contentment, or love outside of yourself, you may never find them. That’s not to say you can’t receive these things from other sources, but life is full of changes and you must be motivated, autonomously, from the inside.”

    Crowe enlisted the help of friends to model her ceations. She also photographed, edited, and braided each and every look herself.

    Her most time-consuming braid look took 12 hours to create.

    As for her favorite work? Crowe doesn’t have one. “I love them all. Picking a favorite is like trying to choose a favorite child,” she said.

    (SD-Agencies)