Phenotype | noun, Genetics.

​

1. The observable constitution of an organism.

 

2. The appearance of an organism resulting from the interaction of the genotype and the environment. Cultural definition: The outward appearance of an organism; the expression of a genotype in the form of traits that can be seen and measured, such as hair or eye color. ['Phenotype' definition from Dictionary.com]

 

Phenotyped is a project about kinship, beauty, and Black culture. I am weaving together vernacular family photos with photographs I have taken at various Beauty Supply stores across the U.S. This project is an extension of my work exploring lost languages and homelands. It relies on the lived memories of my kin as documented by the photographs we have taken, many of which were captured long before I was born. Phenotyped seeks to understand and suggest how identities are constructed, how they are maintained, and how they shift over time.​

​

Two of these works were created for Current Resident, a project by The Black Embodiments Studio.

​

Photo credits: Mario Gallucci (paper weavings) and Emi Ogata Demaderios (pinwheel story maps)