Sikelianos-Carter takes us on a journey in Femme, future-sent divinity, examining black hair as armor, weapons and symbols of royalty. These Future Ancestors are Sikelianos-Carter's response to, and escape from the many ways Black bodies are policed and dehumanized. Exploring white America's historical repulsion to Black hair and the more contemporary fetishization and appropriation of Black hairstyles within popular culture. They are the gatekeepers of rage and sadness, projections of power and freedom, cast onto an otherworldly reality.
Alisa Sikelianos-Carter
I want to live in a world in which every micro-aggression, attack on humanity, and doubt of divinity aimed at Black Women is destroyed by aggressively Femme, future sent deities. These Goddesses are completely enveloped and adorned by magnificent cornrows, dreadlocks and twists. The hairstyles act as armor and weapon, protecting and repelling wearers from white supremacy and misogyny. These are the beings I create. My wildest dreams realized; a marriage between the spectral beings we (as Black people) can and will transform into as a result of the culture we currently live in with the majesty, magic and tradition of our ancestors. These Future Ancestors are my response to, and escape from the many ways Black bodies are policed and demonized; white america’s historical repulsion to Black hair and the more contemporary fetishization and appropriation of Black hairstyles within popular culture. They are the gatekeepers of my rage and sadness, projections of power and freedom, cast onto an otherworldly reality.