This project explores my relationship with hair. Being queer, hair represents periods of suppression and liberation throughout my life, times when fear and defiance have ebbed and flowed. Confronting a fear of perceived femininity by entering my Mother’s salon to research and observe her world, were the first steps I took.Collecting fallen hair with the intention of turning it into something of beauty and value creates a feeling of forced control; reviving something that was intended to be discarded through spinning, felting and braiding.Hair often symbolises renewal, and for me, it has come to symbolise the rebuilding of 'self' after years of conforming to the ‘norm’, and mimicking ‘safe’, ‘acceptable’ and ‘ordinary’ behaviours. Working around a theme of reclamation; I explored a waste material and attempted to reclaim my sense of self by examining my relationship with femininity; tapping into a personal narrative of concealed queerness and how gender roles affected my younger self’s life and decisions.The work discusses the internal conflict between concealing and parading which was perpetuated by societal policing and pressures. It aims to find comfort and a sense of self somewhere between the two.
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