For many people of color, the phrase "don’t touch my hair" doesn’t need explaining. It carries the weight of years of unsolicited curiosity, boundary-crossing, and assumptions about who gets access to whose body. In Southern Oregon, that familiar refrain anchors a new art exhibition and a broader cultural initiative rooted in history, identity, and community.
"Don’t Touch My Hair: An Interactive Crowned Experience" has been on view at the Langford Art Gallery in Phoenix and now travels to Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford.
Created by artist and educator Crystal Profitt, the exhibition uses sculpture, photography and participatory installations to connect personal experience to broader conversations about beauty standards, bodily autonomy and cultural respect.
Reclaiming beauty through hair and representation
The project grew out of Profitt’s desire to reframe how beauty is taught and understood.
“I really wanted to showcase BIPOC people as beautiful,” Profitt said.“This really just kind of stemmed from growing up with a lot of people of color not necessarily being taught that they could be seen as beautiful.”
While representation has improved, she said the work comes from a deeper place — reconnecting hair to ancestry, lineage, and cultural practice.
“I was looking forward to showcasing different shades and colors and hairstyles that brought about the beautiful aspects of each individual culture,” she said.
Hair as cultural storytelling
The exhibition moves beyond aesthetics. Hair carries meaning tied to cosmology, ceremony and storytelling, which Profitt illustrates through specific pieces in the show.
A piece titled "Yoruba Diviner" features cowrie shells, which functioned as both currency and spiritual tools in the Yoruba culture.
“The cowry shell piece… represents a culture that used the shell as currency,” Profitt explained. “It meant it was a very high value — and it still is.”
Another installation draws on Tuscarora traditions.
“Not just anybody could touch their hair,” Profitt said.“They specifically reserved hair care for ceremonies like mourning, marriage, and rites of passage.”
In a deliberate reversal, visitors are invited to touch a braided element in the installation. The braid connects to an illuminated tree, which lights up when touched.
That interactive element is intentional. Profitt said the exhibition is designed to prompt reflection on boundaries, consent and social norms.
"Many people can relate to the conversation around boundaries,” she said. “The exhibit is actually opening up conversations where we can explore boundaries and our bodies.”
The meaning behind a ‘crowned' experience
The exhibition’s subtitle, “An Interactive Crowned Experience,” carries both symbolic and political weight
“We wanted to touch on the not-so-subtle pun — the top of your head, which we also consider the crown,” Profitt said.
That idea also connects directly to the CROWN Act, legislation passed in Oregon and 24 other states aimed at protecting people from discrimination based on natural hair and hairstyles.
“We might not need that law if there were other conversations happening," she said.
A collaborative project rooted in place
Collaboration is central to the project. In her artist statement, Profitt writes, “I believe art should strengthen the ecosystem that raised it.”
Since moving to Oregon in 2021, she says that idea has taken on a very literal meaning.
“I have this belief that people of color are here to bring us back to the earth,” she said. “We’re meant to be stewards of the land.”
The exhibition includes work by several southern Oregon artists. Photographer Allie White’s portraits form the foundation of the installation. A painting by multidisciplinary artist Micah Blacklight adds what Profitt described as an Afrofuturist and galactic sensibility.
Light artist Robert Quattlebaum created the illuminated tree that anchors the space.
“His mastery really allowed this piece to glow in the way I envisioned,” Profitt said.
After closing at the Langford Art Gallery on Jan. 14, the exhibition heads to the Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford as part of Black Alliance and Social Empowerment's Black History Month programming. The show opens Jan. 16 and runs through Feb. 27.
“We’re going into our third year creating platforms for Black artists in the Rogue Valley,” said Vance Beach, founder and executive director of BASE.
"Don’t Touch My Hair: An Interactive Crowned Experience" is at the Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford from Jan. 16 to Feb. 27.
