Ashante Josey's artistic journey celebrates the beauty and resilience of locs

Artist Ashanté Josey is transforming the narrative of natural hair through her series focused on the journeys of people who wear their hair in locs. Combining her passion for portraiture with deep, personal storytelling, Josey takes oral histories of each subject before she begins painting.

Her work, celebrated in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and various city galleries, is a testament to her commitment to capturing the beauty and resilience of the Black community. Now, at 30, she immerses herself in this project that explores the cultural and spiritual significance of locs, drawing inspiration from her own hair journey and the stories of those she meets.

The Penn State University graduate often spends six hours in her studio at Radiant Hall in Homewood. The Monroeville native has painted since childhood, nurtured by her mother’s gifts of art sets and sketchbooks.

After going through school, she realized she had a visceral need for creative freedom that she could not shake — the only thing that she could think about was painting. One day she posted a painting on Facebook and she sold it the same day.

“That’s when I said, alright yeah, this is what I’m doing,” she said.

Loc inspiration

Josey meets people with locs, takes portraits, builds relationships and delves into their lives. She plans to study locs’ historical background in Jamaica and travel there, connecting it to Rastafari culture. Some series parts depict subjects intertwining locs after losing loved ones.

Her inspiration for this series has been rooted in her own hair story.

“I think just starting my loc journey — starting to connect with people with locs — inspired me to begin this project,” she said. “The first person who inspired me, I met at a fundraiser. His locs really stuck out … I ended up having a conversation with him and getting to know about his hair story.”

Josey considered locs for herself for about a year before committing. Now, she said she connects more to her spirituality and other people with locs.

“Natural hair and locs, it does change the way people look it at you, it does change the way people interact with you … If I was a woman with straighter hair, my interactions would be different. I just wanted to acknowledge the beauty and the courage it takes to wear your natural hair,” Josey said.

While Josey’s art usually focuses on Black women, this series includes men. Hearing the various stories for this series has allowed Josey to come to the realization that, “We all pretty much are going through a very similar journey — people do look at us differently, people do make judgments based on our hair, we deal with our own insecurities but we push through,” Josey said.

A platform

Chantel King, 30, a portrait artist who also uses acrylic and oil paint, has been good friends with Josey since high school.

“She’s one of my closest friends. Just being able to watch her grow as an artist has been an inspiration to me,” King said. “Seeing how God has opened so many doors for her … it’s an honor to watch her journey.

“She’s a women’s advocate… and it’s not just her work but her work ethic. She puts her heart and mind into her work,” King said.

When Josey began growing her locs, she did notice she had an increased desire to connect more with nature.

“Now I want to invest more in plants, I want to get my hands dirty in soil, and go outside and touch the grass and walk and get grounded,” she said. “It’s interconnected.”

Josey said she is inspired by portrait artist Kehinde Wiley, who incorporates floral backgrounds in his pieces. She is challenging herself to delve deeper into the detailed backgrounds.

“I will use my platform to amplify stories of real, beautiful Black individuals,” Josey said

Connect with Josey here.