Hushed figures wander around the room, staring with contemplation at the thin, white pages and thick, black lines that build the pieces on display before Maina herself comes to address the room with her own hair in a natural afro. Alongside African works pulled from Hamline’s permanent collection, Wangui Maina’s work depicting braids and curls of African hair hangs on the walls of Soeffker Gallery.

Originally, Maina considered herself a painter.

“In the beginning I actually didn’t like drawing that much,” Maina said. “I had to kinda learn to slow down, be patient, and go through the motions of building a texture and building that volume and that led to me wanting to pick a subject that kinda lends itself to that.”

That subject was hair.  

“I’m really interested in a single element of how we present ourselves can be used to create this entire image of who we might be, what our values might be, [and] what culture we come from.”

Her work ranges from detailed braids to more abstract curling designs.

She found the process for her art was not unlike the work needed to style hair, mirroring the repetitive, meditative steps.

One such work is her 2014 piece Untitled (detritus).

“I drew the image using all hair styling tools to really add a new layer to the work about what it can represent and the technique and the time and process that goes into making a piece like this versus the time and process that goes into styling your hair.”

Using hair pins, combs and bobby pins, Maina created the intricate and abstract lines that built the piece over daily sessions for four weeks.

“It makes me realize that every step that I’m doing while I’m making something, especially if it’s a print, contributes to the final result.”

On a larger level, Maina’s work speaks to a larger discussion, which Allison Baker, Assistant Professor of Sculpture, referenced in her introduction on the intersection of Maina’s work and social justice.

“I think sometimes when we say those words they often ring hollow,” Baker said. “I think her work is important and it’s an important one to talk about.”

Her work speaks to concepts of culture and beauty practices with abstract depictions to refer to larger ideals.

“A lot of it has to do with beauty practices… as something necessarily to navigate the spaces we exist in, but also that’s something that’s kinda bizarre,” Maina said. “Especially for me as a black woman, as a person of color, and how something like hair, especially nowadays, is so political it was important for me to condense this element and look at it and think about what it actually represents.”

The issues her pieces speak to are current and, as Baker said, important.

“I’m here today with my full ‘fro out, and in certain spaces, that’s considered inappropriate even though it’s just how my hair grows out of my head.”

Maina’s work will be on display on Hamline’s campus inside the Drew Fine Arts Building’s gallery from October 12 to November 23 for those interested in seeing her collection, “Embodiment.”