The Root was developed in response to public discourse surrounding the Will Smith–Chris Rock Oscar incident, which prompted a deeper reflection on the emotional weight carried by hair discrimination. In Western society, natural, kinky hair and braids are often perceived as unprofessional or undesirable, reinforcing racialised beauty standards that persist in everyday life. Drawing from my own experience with natural curls, the work explores repressed emotions, such as shame and exhaustion felt by individuals pressured to chemically alter their hair to conform.

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The installation was digitally designed using Blender 3D, while the typographic elements were physically constructed using hair (wig) collected from a shower drain. This drain, frequently clogged with shed hair, became a central metaphor: a site where physical residue and emotional suppression converge. Typography surrounded by chemical foam symbolises both loss and forced conformity, while kinetic movement and flowing water reflect the ongoing pressure to comply.

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The title The Root plays on the physical nature of hair while referencing deeply rooted systems of racial bias, highlighting how personal identity is shaped and constrained by institutional beauty norms.