HairTexts

“I keep a studio in Mexico, and when I first went there to work I noticed women embroidering on dishcloths, with sayings like ‘I’m Yours Forever,’ and ‘You Are My Life.’ Struck by the emotional fervor, I took up embroidering, switching from thread to stitching with my hair, which is long and looks like thread. At first, I stitched my own words on silk lingerie and household linens, in English or Spanish, but eventually created my own form of text. Each ‘word’ is as long as the length of hair allows. Some hair is donated by friends. The HairText (my term) work is made up of my feelings and opinions, and is offered for interpretation.”

"Liberacion/Liberation," Installation View, Bellas Artes, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

(left) Infinity Inverted, Hairscan on archival paper, 30" x 24", 2004

(center) Generations/Generaciones, artist's hair, vintage silk kimonos, dimensions variable, 2004-ongoing

(right) Infinity, Hairscan on archival paper, 24" x 30," 2004

"Generaciones/Generations," a kimono installation, artist's hair, silk kimonos, dimensions variable

Generaciones/Generations (a kimono installation), artist’s hair, vintage silk kimonos, dimensions variable

Before my father passed away it never occurred to me to use Japanese imagery, but when he died I was overcome by a sense of ancestry. I was moved to make Generations, and chose the kimono as a medium because it is a universally recognized Japanese garment. In Japan, black kimonos are worn by both men and women on formal occasions, usually adorned with a white family crest. Each kimono represents a life. I embellish them with my white hairs as a tribute and reference to the endurance of those who have gone before me. The kimonos are installed in a line with their sleeves just touching, indicating an unspoken intimacy. The title, Generations, implies the perpetuation of something Japanese from one life to the next.

"Liberacionn/Liberation," installation view, Bellas Artes, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

(left) Mending, unstitched, mended vintage wool kimono pieces, dimensions variable, 2004

(front center) Sendero, ceramic floor tiles with artist’s footprints, dimensions variable (12 x 12” floor tiles), 2004

(rear) Generations, vintage silk kimonos with artist’s hair interventions, dimensions variable

(right) Esperanza, vintage kimono with artist’s hair embroidery, 50 x 62”, 2004

detail, white hair on silk kimono

Generations/Generaciones (detail), 2004, artist’s hair, vintage silk kimonos, dimensions variable

"Esperanza," 2004, artist's hair, silk kimono

Esperanza/Hope, 2004, artist’s hair, vintage silk kimono, 72” x 50”

"Cargado," 2015, hair, silk kimono, 50" x 50"

Cargado, 20015, artist’s hair, vintage silk kimono, 50” x 50”

"Generations/Pelo Blanco," artist's hair, vintage kimono, 2015

Generations (Pelo Blanco), artist’s hair, vintage silk kimono, 50” x 50”

hair detail, "Generations," kimono installation

Generations/Generaciones (detail), artist’s hair, vintage silk kimono

"Generations," vintage kimono installation (7), El Museo de la Ciudad, Queretaro, Mexico, 2005

Seven kimonos in a row were installed as Generaciones/Generations in the Museo De La Ciudad, Queretaro, Mexico

"Cardinal Points," detail, 2003, artist's hair, silk, 22" x 22"

"Declaration," 2002, artist's hair on silk panel, 82"x 45"

detail of hair embroidery on silk panel

"Friendship Document," 2003, artist's hair on silk panel, 92"x45"

"Documentation 9/11," 2001, artist's hair on silk panel, 70"x45" The piece took months to make, the "writing" becomes jagged, slanted on 9/11/2001, with the NYC Twin Towers bombings.

This piece took months to make, the "writing" becomes jagged and slanted and mixed with red on 9/11/2001, when the NYC Twin Towers in NYC were bombed.

"Documentation 9/11" (detail)

detail of slanted, jagged "writing" during the NYC Twin Towers bombing on 9/11/2001, "Documentation"

"Blush Circle," 2003, artist's hair on silk, 28" x 22"

"Friendship Series (7 pieces)," artist's hair, silk, wood, metal, 2005

Dimensions variable

"Documentation" detail of hair embroidery on silk, 2003

"Horizon/Marine," 2009, artists' hair, dye, silk, 50" x 44"

"Red Line Mandala," 2015, artist's hair, dye, silk panel, 54"x45"

"Horizon/Navy Moon," 2009, artists' hair, dye, silk, 22" x 16"

Horizon/Blue, artists' hair, silk, dye, 2009, 56" x 55"

"Banner/1," 2014, artist's hair, hand dyed silk, 74"x26"

"Banner/1" detail of hair embroidery

"Untitled (red and white scroll)," 2016, artists' hair, dye, silk, 14" x 162"

"Brief," 2015, artists' hair, dye, silk, 10" x 14.5"

"Untitled (yellow with red border)," 2015, hair, dye, silk, 44" x 22.5"

detail (yellow with red border)

"Poem," 2014, artists' hair, silk, 16" x 45"

"Journal/Diario," detal, 2018

"Journal/Diario", artist's hair, 26cm x 12 meter silk bolt of kimono silk, 2017

The Journals, scrolls made on 12 meter long bolts of silk woven for kimonos, are stitched on daily. Sequential vertical lines mimic Asian script. A space separates the days. When two spaces are skipped, two days have passed without working.