This Ivorian artist creates elaborate sculptures with her hair

Following is a transcript of the video.

Laetitia Ky: My name is Laetitia Ky. I’m 23 years old. I consider myself something of an artist. I do a lot of things. I’m pretty multitalented. Of course, I do my own braids.

Narrator: In 2017, Laetitia skyrocketed to Insta-fame for reimagining her hair as a canvas for creation. This photo series of her braids sculpted into a pair of hands went viral.

Generally, Laetitia plans her hairstyles through sketches. Which help her to simplify her final designs. Most of her styles begin with a very tight ponytail and lots of wire.

She uses hair extensions to reach impressive heights and create intricate designs. A needle and thread are also used to achieve detail. It takes her anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours to fashion her final looks.

Laetitia’s designs go beyond the surface, touching on social issues like the #MeToo movement, stigmas against mental illness, gender inequality, gun violence, and body positivity.

She hopes her styles will help women accept and embrace their natural hair texture.

Ky: One of the messages that really, really, really struck me: A woman, a black woman, told me, “Today, my daughter was feeling sad because she wanted me to straighten her curls and I refused. I showed her some of your photos, and I said, ‘Look, this lady, she did this with natural, curly hair.’ And the little girl looked at your photos, and after that she said, ‘Actually, I don’t want to straighten my hair anymore. I like it like this.'” If you can change the mind of just one person, that is huge. It’s just huge, and don’t stop.