An 1885 Article on Hair-Device Workers
An 1885 article published in The Cornhill Magazine on hair-device workers. Hairwork has a clouded history, and this provides us with some interesting insights.
Update - June 2023
It’s been a bit since I’ve given an update about the “hairy” projects I’ve got going on, so here we go!
Human Hair is a High Performance Fiber
Human hair consists of a tough keratin protein that is solid yet flexible, lightweight, absorbs oil and water, provides thermal insulation, and its tensile strength is similar to steel.
I’m Curious About Recycling Human Hair
A long train of events brought me here, but it all began with one question. Why do we throw our hair away?
Fishing Flies Made With Human Hair
“Zen’s Gems”, Human Hair Flies
My modest online exploration of fishing materials revealed a few mentions of beard hair flies and a quite laughable reference to banning pubic hair flies from a European fishing competition for fear the hormones would give an advantage (yes, you read that right). But no significant leads regarding human head hair utilization for fishing materials beyond the one article I found in 1895 in the last post. I suspect more history is out there; I just haven't come across it yet and all the physical evidence has likely decomposed by now.
Human Hair Fishing Line
There are all sorts of technologies I've been researching (from fertilizers, fabrics, and biomedical), but because I am a fly fisherwoman, I also wondered how some of these nearly-lost traditional weaving strategies would have been similarly applied for crafting tools, such as fishing lines.
40 days
“40 days”, human hair, paper tags, wood clips, string, 31.5” x 32”
I once read people naturally shed between 50-100 hairs from their head every day. I was curious to know if this was true for me. I did my best to collect my natural sheds for 40 days (the final day being my 40th bday - this is part of my 4D collection)
tricharbor
How do we read data in nature? How does the organic matter we produce capture information about our lived experiences, and how do those experiences shape us?
40 rings for 40 years, shaped by my experiences.
familiar 40
Woven with my naturally fallen and collected hairs using a hairwork pattern from 1867. 40 strands of ‘unicorn’ gray hairs create little hearts running down the center of the band. A custom 14k gold enameled & engraved cat skull centerpiece brings it all together.
4D
4D is a Discovery of Decades, Dimensions, and Data through hair art in honor of my 40th birthday in June of 2022.
Constructed from my own strands of hair, these six new art pieces consider how this remarkable fiber observes, reacts, processes, stores, and relays information about our environment and personal experiences.
Pukara Neck Emblem or Sash - Made with Human Hair From Peru
This is one of the oldest textiles made with human hair found in Peru, South America dated from around the 2nd century B.C. – A.D. 2nd century.
”This textile, of a highly unusual shape, is extremely rare. While attributed to the Pukara tradition, believed to be a precursor of the better-known Tiwanaku culture in the Lake Titicaca area of highland Peru and Bolivia…
Human Hair Hygrometer
NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES
In the early 1940’s during WWII, it is reported that over 5,000 American women trimmed and donated their long blonde locks as part of a scientific war effort. Human hair being the main material needed to make hygrometers in atmospheric weather transmitters.
trich splits
It all begins with an idea.
•trich splits•
Ode to trichotillomania (hair pulling)
Human Hair - Kiribati Armor
NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES
In 1893 (nearly 130 years ago) reports of a curious artifact was making its rounds in newspapers across the globe. Islander armor made with strands of human hair. An intriguing functional and decorative utility for hair.
Wire work - gimp.
Here I’m using natural, synthetic, and even horsehair to practice wire wrapping techniques. Also known as gimp work.
