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Natural. Curly. Straight. Processed. Silkener. Dreads. Good hair. Nappy hair. Wigs. Today we’re exploring the world of hair, a billion-dollar industry.

For all its complexities, hair is an integral element in the New York-based artist Tasha Dougé’s work “This Land is OUR Land.” We spoke with her about the piece, and the intersection between history, art, hair, and identity. (The conversation with our visual editor, Sandra Stevenson, has been lightly edited and condensed.)

What inspired you to create “This Land”?

The inspiration came from the phrase “Make America Great Again.” O.K., so we’re going to make America great… When was it great? Who made it great? Who was it great for? When you answer these questions, you’ll have a slew of answers. When I think about this nation as a whole, it wouldn’t be what it is now without the contributions of enslaved Africans. I wanted to explore how I could convey the story of slaves in a way that hasn’t been done before. Without much thought, the image of the American flag came to mind. And then I thought: “Oh, I’m going to make the American flag with black hair.” And then I wanted to replace the stars with cotton.

Describe the creative process.

The hair I used was synthetic braiding hair in different shades (black, dark brown, brown, gray) that I purchased online. There were times that I was exhausted, because I work 9 to 5. She was definitely a task as she is 5 feet by 3 feet. I thought to myself that I could have walked away at any given point because no one knows she is in existence, but “no” kept resounding in my head, because my ancestors didn’t give up. And their pain was nowhere near my pain. So if I’m going to pay homage to my ancestors, I need to do right by them and complete this task. I reference her, Justice, as my blessed burden to carry. When you’re speaking truth that people don’t want to hear, that can be burdensome.