Yinka Olatunbosun
Jessica Soares has always been a storyteller through her artwork. Last year, she featured some of her pieces at the Young Contemporaries exhibition organised by Rele Gallery, highlighting her condition with alopecia. This year, her debut solo exhibition at Rele Gallery in Ikoyi, Lagos, titled Who We Are When The Glory is Gone, showcases a detailed collection of paintings and installations on this condition that she has lived with all her life and inherited from her mother. Alopecia is known as a condition characterised by hair thinning and hair loss. Through her artistic voice, Soares sheds light on the world of identity, perception, and societal expectations.
At the opening of the much-anticipated show, Soares discussed critical issues around the theme for the solo show by documenting episodes of living with alopecia, whether going completely bald or wearing a scarf to cover the hair loss. The artist explained why alopecia is such an issue in our contemporary society.
“It is important because hair is important to every woman,” she argued. “Imagine you have to deal with the thought of losing your hair all the time compared to others who have healthy hair. You go to the salon and you’d hear sad remarks about your hair. Hair is a very important aspect of beauty. Beauty standards start with your hair.”
Since alopecia also affects males, Soares opened up conversations on being vulnerable and still having the strength to live happily and discover one’s true self outside the world’s standard of beauty.
Sitting beside the installation titled “Jessica’s Salon,” Soares revealed how she had made peace with herself even in the face of hair-shaming.
“Due to what I am experiencing, going to the salon has been a lot of trouble for me because people are constantly asking me about my hair and it was always a problem for me,” she said. I would rather stay at home… I am a very shy person and probably always the last to leave the salon because I didn’t want people to see my hair. Growing up, I just found comfort in the home service for my hair. This installation is like the home service set up in my house.”
Drawing upon biblical reference, Soares referred to a woman’s hair as a crowning glory.
Hence the question, “Who Are We When the Glory is Gone?” provokes questions such as “Does that make me less of a woman?” and “Does that make me less beautiful?”
Using motifs like wigs and scarves as objects of masking as well as figures adorned in brightly coloured Victorian dresses with etchings of plants half dying and part blooming, the artist highlights how an individual can live through daily agony to embrace one’s identity. The frames inside the frames are a symbol for our preoccupation with images, and the omnipresent hand mirror serves in duality as both confrontation and distortion.
The curator for the show, Wana Udobang, extolled the honesty behind the body of work and the personal story that echoes with other people living with alopecia.
“There is nothing as beautiful as being able to speak through the art, say things that are meaningful and being able to share the nuances of a journey and your vulnerabilities,” she said.
The founder of Rele Gallery, Adenrele Sonariwo, remarked that the gallery is very keen on representing artists whose works have relevant messages.
“The show serves as a metaphor for us to discuss other issues. It could be anything else for anybody. We all have certain vulnerabilities when we don’t feel accepted. How do we move forward with those things?”
The on-going show runs till October 21.
