Dre on Hair
In Uptown Minneapolis, MN, Dre owns a salon suite called The Queendom MPLS.
At The Queendom, She hosts most of her clients through a cooperative salon business model called Sisters Reflecting Beauty Cooperative. The Sister Reflecting Beauty Cooperative is a salon owned and regulated by its members who invest in The Queendom MPLS salon services and products. Through monthly investments, the cooperative supports The Queendom’s business expenses in exchange for discounted services and other membership benefits.
The Artist
Dre uses hair as her medium to convey new and evolved manifestations of her experiences as a Black Femme. Black referring to the identity of all people within the African diaspora and Femme as it describes a queer identity within the LGBTQIA community. To many outside Black culture, hair could be considered a unconventional medium. But Black people have been using hair as a tool of artistic expression since they were Africans. In Black, African, and other cultures of color, hair can signify ones age, social status, or religious affirmations. Dre’s art maintains this significance of expression, while illuminating textured hair’s supernatural abilities. It evokes a sense of nostalgia that illuminates pride where the experiences of Black and/or Femmes are usually devalued, silenced, misunderstood, stolen, and profited from.
- Listing ID: 2376