Meet Nishan Greyson, a makeup and hair design graduate from Southampton Solent University. Nishan’s final year project, a children’s eBook, aims to celebrate black girls’ hair and encourage them to embrace their natural beauty. Nishan has also created a book focusing on Caribbean culture and food which intends to share the rich and diverse culture of the region with its audience. Read on to learn more about Nishan and her work!
What is the most valuable thing you have learnt at university?
The most valuable thing I have learned while at university is that a picture speaks a 1000 words. Creative Direction is my way of storytelling; being able to bring my imagination alive is something I strive for in my future. Before university I never spoke about political issues, I always used to be too shy to talk about things going on in the world. During my second year I started creating pieces that had a hidden meaning behind it. My goal from their on was to speak about issues that a lot of people would over look.
Tell us about your current projects and work, what have you been working on?
A project that I have just handed in was a children's eBook based on black girls’ hair. Black hair and politics is something that goes hand in hand. Black women have been changing their hair styles to fit into the world’s ‘standard’ of beauty. Black hair is always making headlines. However, in- stead of it being appreciated, it tends to be about it being policed. How black women wear their hair has always been a hot topic, whether it’s to do with the work-place, fashion catwalk or schools.
The aim for the eBook was to encourage young black girls to embrace their kinks and coils to show them they should embarrassed of embracing their afro. Inspired by the eBook I decided to make a children’s book based on Caribbean culture focusing on food. I wanted to teach Caribbean children about their culture as it’s something we don’t learn during school. The history of the Caribbean is rich with blended cultures and natural diversity which is something I want to share with the younger generation. The children’s book will be mixed with games such as spot the difference, colouring pages and recipes. The aim for this project is to allow young children to explore the history of the West Indies that helped influence today’s society.
What form does your work take?
The form is an eBook and and a physical copy. Alongside the physical book, I aim to create a video of a child trying out the recipes inside the book.
How have you evolved as a young creative while studying / working?
What I've learned from studying is how theory and creative thinking goes hand in hand. I have gained the skills of thinking abstractly but also from different perspectives. This is a skill which will be useful when conducting advance research, as I will need to interpret sources from different point of views. As creative I love to challenge myself creatively but also emotionally. Something I try to do when creating work is stepping outside my comfort zone, allowing me to push myself to a new level in order to produce work that I did not believe was possible from myself.
What are the messages and themes behind your project that you want people to take away? Do explore any topics like diversity, sustainability or politics in your work?
I want my work to speak to young black children but mainly black girls. Up unto I was 16 I never liked my hair, I grew up always wanting to change it to fit into what society deemed "pretty". I would always straighten it which led me to cause heat damage to my curls and eventually some of it falling out. During my second year my course had a diversity unit where I decided to focus on black hair. I got all my younger cousins and nieces to model, we had a nice picnic and games to make them feel comfortable as I wanted the photos to look natural. I took inspiration from Alice in Wonderland. Each girl was assigned a character from the book. For the Queen of hearts I decided to do a famous bed hairstyle for black girls (Bantu knots) and my cousin (aged 13 at the time) broke down in tears as she thought her hair was ugly because it was not long and out like the other. From that day I decided to make a mini pact to myself to tell young black girls how beautiful they are and to make sure to compliment them on their hair.
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
I think the fashion industry tends to get confused with the appropriation and appreciation. A lot of trends have originally started within the black community such as baby hair being gelled down or big hoop earings, but society labelled them as ghetto and/or ratchet. As we know past trends become future trends and it's an continued cycle, but one thing I have noticed is a lot of work from different cultures goes unnoticed until its been rebranded and renamed into something else. You see it a lot now, a lot of smaller brands get ripped off but big labels.
What is your plan for the future?
My goal is to go into teaching, one thing I learned from having a black lecturer was how important they are for the younger generation. In 2019 I was fortunate enough to be invited to a conference at the University of Derby, to talk about the Black Attainment Gap. It was from there were my passion for learning grew as it made me want to help others like me, overcome barriers that stop them from becoming their better versions of themselves.
Before going to this conference, I used to believe I was the only person that was struggling with race in University, the conference allowed me to understand that there were and still are others that go through what I do on a daily basis. Becoming a teacher Is a way for me to give back to the community that helped me, I want to stay in the creative field but focus on diversity and inclusivity. To encourage young people that it doesn't matter where you start its how you decide to finish.