Thomias Radin Oracle, 2024

Oracle is a star-shaped oil painting on wood.

At its center is the back of a person's head, which is braided into intricate, winding cornrows. Beyond the figure, there is a blue and orange sky. Purposely leaving parts of the primed wood white, Radin suggests an image that is perhaps a fragment or a memory of a larger story.

The artist chose to focus on this particular African hairstyle for both the history that cornrows have—for example, as a means with which to hide maps to help guide enslaved peoples to freedom—and for the contemporary cultural struggles around African hairstyles. Growing up, Radin was discouraged by his own parents to wear cornrows as they were seen as less professional than hair that mimicked that of white Europeans. In this way, the artist speaks both specifically about Black hair and uses hair as a metaphor for finding one's way by going back to one's roots. The title, "Oracle," further emphasizes the idea that the cornrowed figure is meant to be a guide or perhaps a prophet.