Home is where the heart is. Home can be interpreted in many different ways by each individual. Home can be the smell of your favorite food. Home can be your favorite memory of a childhood experience. Home can be an object that connects you back to your roots.

I grew up in an environment where I watched many different aunties work long hours on their feet to create beautiful styles on my head for school. The styles varied from using wool, and thread intertwining together to hold a form. To protect your hair from exposure to the environment.

My goal through my work involves celebrating these moments remind me of Home.

There is beauty in our struggles, especially with our hair. Braids is important to me and makes me feel connected to my African heritage. So I  can explore different parts of my identity. Hair is a cultural signifier and is a political element of black identity. Each style tells a story and gives knowledge about the person wearing them.

My installation ‘’Hair’’ is an ongoing documentation of my Afro hair from the journey of a child to an adult. I want to showcase the range of my beauty, identity, styles, and versatility in the strength of my culture.

Braids to me is not just a style. But a form of art and my bond with my culture. So I wear it with pride. Home is about what makes you feel safe, and beautiful and makes you be YOU.

Tia Coker’s 3D installation ‘’ Hair ‘’ can be seen at the Where is Home exhibition at the Art Place, in the Meadows, until the end of January.

Find out more about Tia here.