Hair holds bottle caps from drinks found around Kenya, with the most distinct being Tusker- a local brand the country is globally known for. Soft drinks are often used during cultural events, most notably during the Kikuyu pre-wedding meetings of families. At these cultural events, a girl will pour a soft drink for her suitor after dowry negotiations to symbolize that she is agreeable to marrying him. If a girl refuses to pour a drink for her suitor when requested to do so by her father, she is indicating she does not want to marry.
Beads are a big part of adornment in Africa, whether for children or adults, and there is a rich history of wearing beads for both beauty and to symbolize messages of status, age group and so forth to the larger community in one glance without speaking a word. In modern times, adult women wear beads in their dreadlocks, cornrows and braids to dress up, using cowrie shells, large etched wooden beads, delicate cutout metalic beads and everything in between. Beads have surged back into fashion in current years, as the younger Africans rediscover them from their traditional roots, so that within the trendy circles of the cities, many women and men are incorpoorating them into their hair styles and fashionable looks.
"Rising early makes the road short."
African proverb
Camo 11 is one of The Artists favorite images, as it portrays a sense of possibities; with the model standing at the brink of a runway or just about to take off- and the uplifting feel to the fabric stripes run into the distance, giving the sense of moving forward, moving ahead, rising up that is echoed in the African proverb tied to this image.