1. "Navigating my identity through hair products" 

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My investigation explores the cultural significance of hair as a vessel for heritage and belief, contrasted with my personal struggles regarding maintenance of my hair as well as how much it has shaped my identity. I am examining how hair serves as both a crown of pride and a source of internal conflict.

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• How can the physical texture of hair be used as a metaphor for cultural resilience or personal tension?

• In what ways do traditional hairstyles from India communicate social status or spiritual beliefs?

• How does the act of cutting hair represent a transition in identity or a loss of self?

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In my first piece, I experimented with compositional hierarchy by placing an "icon" of my face in the corner to represent the result of a specific hair ritual. I revised the work by adding a red "Target" border around a specific product; originally, the piece was just a collection of items, but I realized it needed a focal point to show the "navigation" of finding the right product. This shows practice in using graphic elements to communicate the internal search for identity amidst a sea of consumer goods.

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This SI is personal because it documents my journey with learning to embrace my natural hair, not straightening it all the time, and maintain it because my hair isn't straight but also not curly. By blending traditional patterns from my heritage with surreal imagery of my own hands working through tangles, and maybe my bathroom wall with hair on it. I create a visual narrative that is specific to my lived reality.

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So far, my work synthesizes the idea of a search for identity with the process of mapping and targeting. By using acrylic markers to create the "Target" border, I am physically highlighting the pressure to find a "holy grail" product. The synthesis occurs where the consumer products (materials) meet the icon of the self (the idea), showing how my identity is often filtered through what I use on my hair.

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Since completing my first piece, my questions have evolved from "What do I use?" to "Why do I feel the need to change?" I want to start investigating how marketing and cultural expectations "target" us as consumers. From here, I will start researching vintage hair advertisements to see how the "target" of beauty has shifted over time.

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Challenge: My biggest challenge has been narrowing down my ideas. Because hair is such a broad topic, I struggled to make my first piece feel focused. I spent a lot of time deciding which products to include and how to represent my "identity icon" without it being too literal.

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The Plan: Next semester, I will create thumbnail sketches for every piece. This will allow me to test out visual metaphors (like the target) before I start the final version, saving me time and mental energy.

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1. "The Wall of Zendoodle": This piece explores the accidental art created during the grooming process. By taking the hair that naturally sheds in the shower and arranging it into "zendoodles" or intricate patterns on the tile, I am reclaiming something usually seen as "waste."

2. "The Golden Thread of Tirupati": A diptych contrasting the bald, ego-less devotee with the commercialized beauty of the weaves produced from their sacrifice.

3. "Strand-Locked": A surreal self-portrait where the density of my hair begins to merge with the environment, using a cramped composition to symbolize the mental and physical "weight" of hair maintenance.