Nature’s Natural Beauty Vol. 2: Land Mermaids

What is Nature’s Natural Beauty collection about?

It’s about showing the beauty of different ethnic women and natural states. I made sure to pick models and photos of women with little to no makeup. Many cultures also value hair as a show of status, beauty, and self-love. Women of Color in history have been dehumanized and features, so I wanted to draw attention to those by showing them in an appealing light. The plants I used are from areas where these women are from regionally.

While the movements of environmental protections on the raise and the self-love and women empowerment movement too, I felt this was best to shine a positive light on these topics through my art. I myself as a Black woman have a strong connection to my hair. For me and many other Black women it symbolizes, our growth, personality, status, and beauty. Hair is a big thing in our culture that harbors a lot of salience with those in and out of the community. It’s important to understand that we think of it as its own being and work tirelessly to main it and keep it happy and healthy.

Especially when they are topics that face so much criticism. Hair for many women of color is something we regard as a vision of nature’s best art forms. Until the first part of this series, these women are colored in natural skin tones, and I more dynamic colors and naturistic “hairstyles” for each of the women. I also took liberty in giving them all “proper” names.

The Inspiration

I love Surrealism. And I’ve always wanted to incorporate the style into my artwork. I didn’t know how. I started doing more research and came upon many art pieces that combined both faces with nature. I feel in love and feel this is my favorite style of art to work with and create.

The Process

I’m going to keep it short here since I don’t want to bore you with too many details. I started first with sketches and vision boards (you all know how much I love vision boards). I would position the body on the paper–horizontally or vertically– then work on the women’s face and body outline. The “hair” was always the last thing I did. One day I plan to go more in-depth on the process, so stay on the lookout for that. Let me know in the comments if that is something you would be interested in reading.