Bintou Diallo is an interdisciplinary artist working across wearable forms, object-making, and performance. Rooted in skills developed through braiding and hair care practices, her work uses hair, hair-adjacent, and found materials as both medium and conceptual language. Through these processes, Diallo creates sculptural, wearable pieces that engage the body as a site of storytelling, memory, and cultural negotiation.
Her practice explores the layered meanings of adornment and the act of “wearing” as a form of expression and self-definition. Drawing from a bicultural perspective, she examines how identity is constructed, performed, and read through material and presentation. She creates immersive visuals worlds that challenge conventional boundaries between art, adornment and the human body.
Diallo has developed and presented her work through independent and group exhibitions in Chicago, including a self-directed exhibition exploring wearable art and cultural exchange.Her work has been featured in publications including Dazed Beauty and Beauty Launchpad and She is a recipient of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Individual Artist Program grant, supporting the continued development of her practice.
Headshot credit: Festus Asante (@asante_images)
Image: Bintou Diallo, Green Magnet, 2024, crochet on crochet