Join guest artist Rabea Ballin as she explores self-identity and hair politics in her “aesthetics” exhibition on display Oct. 7 through Nov. 11 at Lone Star College-CyFair’s Bosque Gallery.

Ballin, who was born in Germany, raised in Louisiana and worked in her mother’s hair salon for a time, earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in drawing and painting at the University of Houston. This Houston artist is now an arts professor at LSC-North Harris and exhibits nationally.

“Rabea’s show in our gallery provides a unique look at ‘maintaining a minimal sense of our true selves and restructuring our appearances’ in the midst of pandemic restrictions,” said Jasleen Sarai, Bosque Gallery director.

Ballin explains that with quarantine and isolation came a pleasant break from self-inflicted beauty routines as the pressure to “look good” eased and beauty standards waned.

“Across social media, I began to see indications that excessive worry and anxiety over appearance was replaced with a refreshed outlook. Many embraced their true natural selves,” she said. “This not only triggered the exploration of psychological well-being tied to simplifying beauty routines, but I also began rethinking and redeveloping notions of presentation.”

Ballin said she began collecting photographic images and started to work much larger and print on durable materials, such as perforated outdoor vinyl, metal and digital art.

Gain further insight about this phenomenon from Ballin at the Instagram Live Virtual Walk-Through at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7.

The Bosque Gallery is open for in-person viewing with social distancing 3 p.m. – 7 p.m. Mondays and 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays. Art images and gallery information is available on the Bosque Gallery website.