ALYSCIA CUNNINGHAM

About the Artist

Personally, Alyscia Cunningham is a granddaughter, daughter, wife, mother of 3, sister, aunty, friend, artist, advocate, writer, Pisces, dreamer, truth seeker, positive thinker, adventurer, traveler, hiker, teacher, student...and her journey continues. Professionally, Alyscia is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, filmmaker, and photographer who has contributed to National Geographic, Discovery Channel, America Online and the Smithsonian Institution. Alyscia is also the Founder of Her House Media and the CEO of a Maryland Home Improvement company, Uprising Builders, LLC. Her work focuses on changing the dialogue around beauty standards for women. After the success of Alyscia's first book, Feminine Transitions: A Photographic Celebration of Natural Beauty she became one of the FrontLine Voices for Stop the Beauty Madness, a campaign focused on changing the dynamics of beauty globally. She continues her contribution to social change with her documentary film and photography book, I Am More Than My Hair. Alyscia also co-organized Reel Moms, a supportive community for working Moms and Caregivers in the film and TV industry, in partnership with Women in Film and Video. Her goal is to continue producing documentary films and photo books. With the completion and direction provided through the Horror/Psychological Thriller workshop with Sundance Institute, she plans to also write and direct Horror films. Read more about Alyscia on AboutMe.com.

Artist's Statement

As a filmmaker and photographer, my lens is expression of storytelling. Although I didn’t know it then, from a young age, I started my journey as a storyteller, by way of being a good listener, and turning it into art with a social impact. As the first American generation born as a descendant of Trinidadian parents, I often found myself amongst the elders, in my childhood neighborhood of Queens, NY. I immensely enjoyed sitting with the them and visualizing pictures as they creatively poured out tales of their upbringing. Not only was I intrigued by their narratives, but I quickly learned that their experiences were directly related to their personalities as adults. My earliest conflict with beauty led me to produce work that encourages self-love and shines light on our authenticity as humans. That of females in particular, since I tell stories with my feminine perspective. Given that ads with “attractive” women seldom looked like me, a little brown girl, I made it a point to create works of art that contribute to diversity. In September 2013, I self-published my first book titled, "Feminine Transitions: A Photographic Celebration of Natural Beauty". It is photography that celebrates and promotes the natural beauty of girls and women at all stages of life. It includes an unaltered portraits series of females faces, accompanied by their quotes, between the ages of 7 weeks and 103. My current project, "I Am More Than My Hair", is a documentary film and coffee table book that features the stories and portraits of females who’ve experienced hair loss due to medical conditions. Through this project I am redefining beauty standards and bringing awareness to alopecia (the partial or complete absence of hair). My goal for the near future is to continue producing documentary films and coffee table books with a focus on social-change. I also plan to direct and produce theatrical films.