We Have The Cure, 2024, acrylic, steel, neon signs, ready-made manicure table, video installation (9min), dimensions variable
We Have The Cure reimagines nail salons as sites of resistance, inspired by the historic concealment of poison under the nails of the enslaved.
As in other works, here vernacular aesthetics are repurposed to signal otherwise possibilities: the salon becomes an apothecary where herbal concoctions are disseminated, nails transformed into armour through adornment, and clients sent away with the protective talismans needed to navigate the anti-blackness that persists in the wake of slavery.
A video installation on a manicure table records this process, collapsing different forms of selfcare - that which we know now and the more violent forms needed then - drawing an unexpected throughline between beauty, violence and care.
Over the course of the exhibition, the salon will be activated by inviting Black women nail technicians to offer free nail extensions and manicures to black women in the community.
The artist would like to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.