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Humna A. Raza, 27, stands outside Tarrant County College South Campus on Aug. 6, 2024. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)
” data-medium-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/TWUart-_CamiloDiaz-06-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/TWUart-_CamiloDiaz-06-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button”>Living between two cultures gave artist Humna A. Raza a unique relationship with her hair. Raza, 27, grew up between American and Pakistani cultures as she experienced conflicting interpretations of women’s hair. In her latest exhibition, “Tangles, Knots, and Binds,” she reflects her experiences through mixed media art.The Bernice Coulter Templeton Art Studio gallery at Texas Wesleyan University is showing “Tangles, Knots, and Binds” from July 15 to Sept. 6. A closing reception is scheduled for 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 5.“Tangles, Knots, and Binds” displayed on July 24, 2024, at the Bernice Coulter Templeton Art Studio gallery at Texas Wesleyan. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)“Hair has been that kind of cultural tie, in that the more tangled and knotted the hair becomes in the work, it’s also symbolic of the confusion and the lies and the truths that one tells themselves,” Raza said.Raza was born in Florida. At 6, she moved to her parent’s home country of Pakistan. At 16, she moved back to Texas and lived in Saginaw. In Pakistani culture, hair plays a significant role in the perception of a young woman. Healthy, well-maintained hair with no tangles means you’re a strong individual, Raza said.“I always say I’m like in the weird limbo of cultures. It’s like I’m not Pakistani, like a true follower of Pakistani culture, nor am I a true follower of American culture. It’s a weird in-between,” Raza said.Raza, now an art professor at Tarrant County College, started the project two years ago as her thesis in graduate school. She suspects it might come to an end soon. Raza described working on the series as a cathartic process.Drawings and ceramic art pieces from “Tangles, Knots, and Binds,” displayed on July 24, 2024, at the Bernice Coulter Templeton Art Studio gallery at Texas Wesleyan University. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report) As the director of the Bernice Coulter Templeton Art Studio at Texas Wesleyan, one of Rolando Palacio’s roles is to find local artists so their work can be presented at the studio.When he arrived at the university a year ago, Palacio served as both artist and director. In late 2023, Palacio showed his photography series, “Una Vida Linda,” documenting the Latino community in southwest Detroit.

Video by Camilo DiazPalacio views the exhibitions as an entry point for students to see and learn more about art from different Texas artists. Palacio contacted Raza via Instagram after he saw one of her previous shows on social media.“My goal is to go out and to look for artists who I feel are really well-developed artists and sometimes don’t have a lot of recognition, so that they can at least have a solo exhibition and put that list on (their)resume, which is always really important,” Palacio said. Each piece in the series is a representation of Raza. She starts her drawings, paintings and ceramics with photographs of her as references.Her favorite piece is called “Resigned and Bound.”Humna A. Raza shows her charcoal chalk and ink drawing “Resigned and Bound” on Aug. 6, 2024, at Tarrant County College South Campus. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report) “I’m stuck in a place right being physically bound by the chain of the braid, free at the same time,” Raza said, pointing to the drawing. “It’s this struggle between being bound to one’s kind of inner torment, but also being free of it at the same time or finding that freedom.”Humna A. Raza shows her charcoal chalk and ink drawing “Three Strand in Stillness” on Aug. 6, 2024, at Tarrant County College South Campus. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report) Disclosure: Texas Wesleyan University has been a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. News decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.Camilo Diaz is a multimedia fellow at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at camilo.diaz@fortworthreport.org.