This story is a part of Picture’s October Luxurious challenge, exploring what luxurious actually means to artists, designers, aestheticians, architects and extra. On this as-told-to interview, hair artist Tanya “Nena” Melendez shares the tales behind two wigs she made for the problem.
The primary wig is impressed by the celestial our bodies, by the celebrities. I’m on this steady journey discussing our connection to the celebrities and heavenly mates. Residing within the inside metropolis in L.A., there’s smog, gentle air pollution, sound air pollution; we’re towered by these skyscrapers and all these road lights — our entry to seeing the celebrities is blanketed. I wished to focus on how highly effective our connection is to the celebrities.
There’s a deeper aspect to that story, tied into my non secular observe, Ifá. It’s a standard non secular observe from the Yoruba folks in Nigeria. It’s stated that we come from the celebrities. There are different Indigenous cultures that talk about this: the Hopi tribe, the Dogon tribe in West Africa, the Lakota tribes. And naturally, the Yoruba folks in Ifá talk about our heavenly mates. When you see the braids, they’re woven to imitate the celestial our bodies within the heavens.
There are additionally different subgroups whenever you observe Ifá that help us. There’s a particular group, predominantly ladies, known as Korikoto. Korikoto is an Orisha, a deity that governs and protects kids. With this hairpiece, I wished to focus on what’s presently occurring with Palestine, with Congo, with Sudan. We’re approaching a yr of this genocide, and I’ve been grieving, with everybody else who’s been paying consideration. I used this hairpiece as a chance to talk on the injustices which can be occurring globally and to kids.
Sydney wears 2001 Christian Dior by John Galliano from Paumé Los Angeles Archive, Loewe flower sandal, Hugo Kreit earrings.
I grew up in a home full of ladies, and my mother was a single mother. I’d all the time see her dye her hair and swap up her make-up. Once I was little, I used to be like, “Why can’t she just be normal?” Like, why does she should do all of that, proper? However it wasn’t till method later I used to be like, “Oh, that was my mom’s way of empowering herself.” She was shape-shifting. She was shape-shifting in order that she may entry areas she wouldn’t in any other case have been in a position to entry.
Your hair, your aesthetic, your make-up — it’s armor. It’s a weapon. Tying that to the historical past of braids, it’s extensively identified how braids have been used as maps by enslaved folks to navigate their method out to freedom. Braids held seeds and grains of rice. For our ancestors, every part was achieved with intention.
Right here within the West, we do issues simply because, as a result of we really feel prefer it, as a result of we need to, as a result of we prefer it, and not likely specializing in the why and the way that impacts us, the way it impacts our psychological well being, our emotional well being, our non secular well being. We’re very two-dimensional right here lots of instances.
With the second wig, I wished to do a softer, extra female piece. I used to be honoring the spirit of the river, of the candy waters of Osun. Within the Ifá custom, all individuals are kids of Osun, of the candy waters. With out water we’d not exist. We couldn’t develop meals, we couldn’t construct our houses, we couldn’t bathe, we couldn’t heal the sick with out water. Water is life. Water is every part. I wished to simply actually play on the female power of that. The candy waters are the embodiment of purity and sweetness, and the essence of magnificence. However there’s additionally one other aspect to it, which is the embodiment of somebody very fierce and robust and guarded. With that hairpiece you may have these braids which can be stitched into florets round her crown. I did an ombre impact with the braids, from brown to gold, to attempt to pull within the colours of the river, the water, that honey amber, softness. After which with the hair adornment, you may have the alligator, you may have honey bees. There’s a sweetness with a chew.
Your hair, your aesthetic, your make-up — it’s armor. It’s a weapon. Tying that to the historical past of braids, it’s extensively identified how braids have been used as maps by enslaved folks to navigate their method out to freedom. Braids held seeds and grains of rice. For our ancestors, every part was achieved with intention.
— Tanya “Nena” Melendez
Melanie wears Dsquared2 jacket from Paumé Los Angeles Archive, KNWLS bottoms, Christian Louboutin bootie, Hugo Kreit earrings, VidaKush choker.
All my supplies are sourced regionally. There’s an artist pal of mine, his title is Manny Torres. He has his personal unbiased enterprise known as 2ndWnd. We’ve been in group for years. He’s additionally an entrepreneur and makes every kind of stuff. He principally takes my illustrations and laser cuts them out on these acrylic items that I supply. And he can do it on wooden, on vinyl, on every kind of stuff. And so I hit him up like, “I have this project. And I know it’s last minute, can you please fit this in for me?”
I’ve my Ìyá, my lady elder in my Ifá observe. Her title is Ìyáifa Efuntosin, and she or he’s a priestess, and she or he’s all the time been there to assist help and information me. I journey to Nigeria; I keep in her room. She teaches me lots of issues — even with this primary hair piece, she offered extra info, extra readability on Korikoto. She was there as a information, a supply. My pal Martha Carrillo additionally got here in final minute to assist me construct the sculpture piece on that first wig. And Melissa Sandoval, the make-up artist, is one other actually good pal of mine. I invited her to hitch, to focus on her work, and to additionally play, to have enjoyable and simply be impressed and have this dialog between one another. It’s undoubtedly a group effort.
—As advised to Allison Noelle Conner
Hairpieces Tanya “Nena” MelendezProduction Rafaela Remy SanchezModels Melanie Moreno, Sydney NelsonMakeup Melissa Sandoval
Tanya “Nena” Melendez is Puerto Rican and was born and raised in northeast Los Angeles. She is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist with a background in conventional folklore dance. She is a world-renowned superstar hairstylist.
Allison Noelle Conner’s writing has appeared in East of Borneo, Frieze, Hyperallergic, KCET Artbound and elsewhere. Her fiction has appeared within the Kenyon Overview. She lives in Los Angeles, the place she works as a contributing editor at Carla.
