My work with hair as a drawing medium arose out of an everyday struggle between routine bathing and keeping my shower drain clog-free. Simply put, I started collecting the loose strands of hair that fell out of my head and put them onto the shower wall, collecting them for later disposal. Thrust upon the wall, the strands clustered together in swirls of curves and lines and piqued my curiosity.

What began as a housekeeping chore quickly turned into one of my most beloved ways of drawing and an unexpected look into the chemical properties of water and hair.

Hair has the unique property of being almost the same width (to the human eye) from beginning to end and therefore makes the most perfect line -- something hard to imitate by even the most steady of hands. Water has a propensity to seek out hair and other hydrophilic compounds and stick to it. Scientifically speaking, hair is made up of keratin, or proteins wound in a coil and held together by a hydrogen bond. This bond breaks in the presence of water, which is one of the most commonly known hydrogen bond compounds. The breaks in the coils allow the proteins to stretch and be slightly rearranged, say into a curl. When the hair dries, the bonds reform into their new shape. In my case the extra staying power in the glue allows me to form and retain the subtlest of curves with my otherwise stickpin-straight hair.

The Series

My first series of hair drawings in 1997 was an exploration of well-known art historical figures. This was my chance to answer back to the narratives in those paintings, to comment on women in art from past to present. Using Polaroid stills of myself in these poses, I copied the pose but used my body type and inserted a contemporary "prop" to the composition. Suddenly Venus was born with laundry and the Gleaner was just an everyday cleaner. Original master works were no longer evoking beauty, duty or the sublime - they were depicting me recycling in a pastoral setting or leading the people with a cup of coffee. These works represented the narrative in today's world: streamlined to a few words or maybe a comic gesture.

The shear beauty of the figures outlined by a continuous line of hair enticed me to further explore the human form with a series of drawings of myself in yoga poses. Since 1999 I have been practicing yoga and have found the process of pulling and stretching my body into yoga poses similar to the bending of stands of hair in my artwork.

The reshaping of my hair with a bit of glue and patience is analogous to the practice of shaping my body and mind to follow the yogic path towards well-being. Every hair drawing contains my unique DNA and represents a very personal exploration of the possibilities and limitations we face in restoring or renewing ourselves. (Click here to see images of recent hair drawings.)

-Kate Gilbert Miller
4/22/02