Weave Idolatry
When working with photography, the human figure is a central theme. I am a prop maker, fabricating the sculptures featured in my photographic work. I create surreal characters with the camera and use masks, cloaks, and hand-dyed fabrics to obscure the faces and identities of the models. The models' faces are unimportant because I want to contend with the subject matter. I build worlds in my photographs using the body as a sculptural material and the materials themselves as a language.
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Weave Idolatry, 2016, Dimensions Variable
Woven synthetic/human hair weave, gold frames, window cornices, and grey body paint.
Weave Idolatry, (detail)
Installation view at the Weatherspoon Art Museum
Weave Idolatry 1-5, Photographs, Dimensions Variable
Archival ink-jet prints, woven synthetic/ human hair weave, and grey body paint. Editions of 2
Masks are one of the most ancient forms of changing someone’s identity and assuming a new persona. A mask can empower a person by concealing or transforming their identity, which allows them to act out hidden parts of themselves or convey secret thoughts to others; a mask can even transform a person into a spiritual being. Mask can relieve the wearer of inhibitions and allow the expression of personality traits that the mask wearer feels unable to express readily. A mask is one of the greatest examples of physical transformation that washes away any evidence of a person’s old self to become anew.
Weave Idolatry
Accompanying this series is a performance video with an original score made in collaboration with artist Johannes Barfield.
gelled down baby hair II, 2015, 12ft x 19ft x 3ft
Brown Ampro styling gel, paper, and human hair weave
My video and wall installation, both titled gelled down baby hair, use hair gel as the primary medium. In the video, I divide the screen into nine frames like the Brady Bunch introductory credits. The frames show the same person repeatedly styling her hair into a single hairstyle. In the video, she is rolling, gelling, blow drying, combing, and saran wrapping her hair to achieve this hairstyle.
More abstractly, in the wall installation also titled gelled down baby hair I use brown Ampro hair gel, and hair weave on reflective metallic paper to create a decorative line drawing inspired by recollections of me gelling down my own hair. During the creation of this piece I use a comb and brush on the paper surface as I would on my own skin.
gelled down baby hair II, (detail)
gelled down baby hair, 2015, silent performance