This is my attempt to create a piece with an African feel that is not African. I've always been fascinated by and jealous of those black women with all those braids and the ability to weave beads etc. into them. I "invented" this style fringe in an attempt to recreate the volume of that hairstyle and produce that African "aura". I also wanted to create a piece that combined all the metal colours, a design taboo when I was growing up. The necklace is constructed of ladders, internal spikes and 3-D fringe and is finished with the handbraided ties.

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