Family Hairloom

Ceramic Assemblage | 2022

38” x 24” x 8”

In the Victorian days, before family photos and scrapbooks were common, women commemorated their family by creating intricate wreaths woven from locks of hair from their family members. The work is intricate and painstaking. Though beautiful and delicate, hair wreaths are also undeniably macabre. I decided to make my own version. 

I impressed strands of my family’s hair onto a floral press mold. I singed their hair on the surface while the ceramic was still hot and used hair strands to dangle petals from the fingers cast from a mold of my own hands. Scissors are used in the creation of the work, but can also sever necessary ties. Lean in close and have a look at all the details.

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