Asia Clarke
Creating intricate braid ups for my friends after school as a teenager was the start of my artistic journey. In 2022, as an ode to my roots, I created ""The Black Hair Boutique"" poster, a celebration of community, beauty, and cultural legacy. At the time, I saw it as an act of preservation: capturing the familiar aesthetics of the salon as a space of belonging for pan-African communities.
Looking back, I recognize that work as an early experiment, a snapshot of my process as I searched for language and imagery to match the depth of what salons represent in our lives. It was rooted in reverence but not yet pushing the boundaries I wanted to explore.
This year I introduce ""Ama’s Salon"" to the world, a speculative art project set in the year 2056. Here, the salon is reimagined as a site of futuristic neurotechnology, where braids redirect neural pathways and transform emotional states. This is now a speculative leap into Afrofuturism and Black feminist care.
Placing these two works together reveals my transformation: from honouring the salon’s past to envisioning its future. It reminds me that I'm also evolving, using speculative lens to elevate my creative endeavours.
Ama’s Salon
Digital Art, 59.4 cm x 84.1 cm
The Black Hair Boutique
Digital Art, 59.4 cm x 84.1 cm
About Asia Clarke
Asia Clarke is a Canadian born multidisciplinary artist of Afro-Caribbean descent. She is passionate about re-envisioning futures and helping communities, clients and brands to envision and actualize their creativity. Asia is a Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University. As a hairstylist for film, TV and print/digital media, her work has been published worldwide and featured in major publications such as Vogue Netherlands, Vogue Italy, GQ and Dazed Magazine. She is a trained jewelry and costume designer with over 10 years experience running my jewelry brand, Wild Moon Jewelry. With over 10 years of experience in international development, strategic foresight, and program evaluation and consulting, she has also worked on local economic empowerment projects in Canada, Dominica, Trinidad, Eswatini and Ghana. She uses research as the foundation for her professional and creative works.