• ELIXHER
• On December 19, 2012

It does not take much to get folks worked up about black women’s hair. For some, their personal choices about their hair become public cultural events. (See: Oprah Winfrey. Gabby Douglas. Viola Davis.) But while black women’s hair is obsessively discussed and debated, it’s rarely celebrated.

Enter Andrea Pippins. Last week the Baltimore-based graphic designer and artist released “Crowns of Color,” a four-poster series of prints which does exactly that.

Only, Pippins didn’t set out to respond directly to the neverending handwringing over black women’s hair. Pippins, who is an assistant professor of art at Stevenson University, really just wanted some good art on her walls. Newly arrived in Baltimore and with too many bare walls in her home on her hands, she decided to make the kind of art she wanted to see. Art that was inspired by her love of textiles, woodblock prints, old barbershop signs and beautiful images of black princesses like those in the classic children’s book “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters.” Art that celebrated black women’s hair in a “lighthearted” and knowing way. And thus, “Crowns of Color” was born.

Colorlines caught up with Pippins over email, and she shared the inspirations behind “Crowns of Color” and her evolving personal views on hair, as well as why she just might owe her professional career to Halle Berry.

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