Expressive roots

Lebohang Motaung is a printmaker and hairstylist. Plaiting hair has always been part of Lebohang life. Over the years this skill has developed from a means of earning income to an area of intense research and art practice. Lebohang is fascinated by the arrangements, patterns, colour and texture of African hair as interesting subject matter to explore. In Lebohang's recent work, Lebohang focuses on the activity and process of doing hair. Imagery of hybrid hairstyles are metaphors of the subconscious and conscious relationships between her and her clients. In Expressive roots, she use a wide range of mediums from linocut, etching, paper making and synthetic hair on paper. With my etchings she present the timeous and laborious process that she go through when plaiting hair. In her recent work, she makes portraits using hair. Hair can be a symbol of one's identity it has the power to dictate how a person is seen. She use both human hair and synthetic hair to portray her subject matter.