I think a lot about my ancestors and if they would accept me. I grew up in Vienna, Austria, but growing up I did not really feel accepted by this society and that was often on bases of me not being white. I am mixed, my mother is Ghanaian and my father Austrian. I was raised by my mother and she raised me with her culture. Unfortunately, she did not teach me to speak her language, Fante. When I left the house, I was starred at, insulted and expected to behave a certain way. The older I got the more I wished I was fluent in my mother’s language. I was sad. I thought, If Austrian society is not accepting me, would my Austrian ancestors accept me? And further questioned, I do not speak Fante, would my Ghanaian ancestors accept me? However, when I moved out of my mothers' house I noticed I could do things I did not know I could do. One of those things was braiding hair. Braids are also referred to as protective hairstyles. Up until today, I cannot explain to anyone how I braid hair, it's just a thing I do. I love braiding hair of people I can connect to. I think it is a gift from my ancestors. It makes me feel protected. So now, I speak a language I don´t understand and understand a language I don’t speak.

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Through these images, I want to show how it is possible to connect to people and energies at the most random places.

Sandy van den Brink (the model) and Safiano Leming (photographer) are two people I have made a strong connection with and that in a short time, which is unusual for me. Both of them are from the formerly colonized countries, Aruba and Suriname, but also, mixed with white Dutch parents. Places I did not know before I moved to the Netherlands. Places I did not know have a connection to Africa. We found each other in the Netherlands, a place we fit in but also don’t. We connected on different levels. One of those levels is our ancestral link, which especially comes through when caring for each other. That being, for example, me giving them a protective hairstyle.