SCULPTURE

The beauty industry has a way of making you hate yourself. It shoves objectified ideals in your face every minute of your waking life. My work began as a study of its imposed gender roles, which are magnified at the expense of our emotional psyche…

Hair Reiki is a life sized sculpture, constructed using a wire frame sphere and tangled multi-colored hair. The sculpture exists as a complex union of human diversity. The ball of material hangs by fishing wire while a white mannequin hand faces its palm at the hair, in a healing reiki-style position. The inception of Hair Reiki was first inspired by the common sighting of penny-sized client hair-balls in my personal space. Finding someone else’s organic matter within my laundry room or bedroom would remind me of the boundaries that are blurred when stylist and client collaborate in the creation of a haircut. Trust, authorship and control come to the forefront during a deeply personal process. My intention is to spiritually heal, harmonize and beautify what others view as inadequate. Hair Reiki symbolizes what I look for to find beauty, where the layman sees grotesque. 

With time and experience, my relationship with hair and art has moved into a place of acceptance and celebration. After creating a community based on the harmonious diversity of hair, the time came to celebrate. Party Hairballs are assemblage sculptures made with inflatable beach balls, large crocheted hair nets and wefts of synthetic tangled hair. Party Hairballs were donated to an international virtual dance party, Boiler Room, which reaches 2.36 million people on YouTube. The guests were encouraged to toss them around and heighten their sensory experience while dancing the night away.