Artist Project / Liquor, Hair

Women (and men) with highly refined, hyper-groomed hair have long been ubiquitous in film, television, and advertising. For some time, seemingly effortless—but actually highly produced—glossy, cascading curls have been the norm for any woman appearing in the media. Like many other “looks” for women throughout history, this coiffure is time-consuming, and to correctly achieve it, a crew of technicians is required. Although I understand how artificial all this is, for me this knowledge doesn’t seem to lessen my desire to achieve this simulacrum of falsely casual hair-perfection for myself. As is my usual strategy, a need to paint an image of the vexing “object” ensues, in an attempt to rid myself of its power over me. This strategy never truly works, but at least some paintings—such as the ones below—are made in the meantime.