BoBo Nail Salon

BoBo Nail Salon is an ongoing participatory art project that explores nail art as a medium for dialogue and examines the experiences of women in the service industry. Rooted in personal and cultural identity, the project seeks to foster a deeper understanding of cultural narratives surrounding women while prompting reflections on the societal roles they navigate across different contexts.

At the core of this project, the artist creates an intimate, interactive space where conversations unfold around the power dynamics between service providers and recipients. The nail industry, often associated with gendered and racialized stereotypes, serves as both the conceptual and physical framework for this exchange. Participants are invited to engage in a symbolic transaction: instead of monetary payment, they offer a secret—something deeply held and unspoken—in return for a meticulously crafted nail design. To mark this exchange, the artist cuts a small lock of the participant's hair and seals it onto the nail, embodying the act of releasing, returning, and safeguarding the secret.

Each BoBo Nail Salon session lasts around one hour, during which the artist engages in a one-on-one exchange with the participant through conversation and nail art. Since its inception, BoBo Nail Salon has been presented multiple times in diverse settings, including as a side program for film festivals, as part of artist open studio events, and at independent art markets. As an evolving and growing project, it continues to expand through new encounters, inviting more participants—regardless of background—to engage in this shared ritual of intimacy, vulnerability, and transformation.