Untangled

Untangled highlights the issues surrounding hair's personal versus market value, exploring the different phases in the human hair trade and the trade’s ambiguity. The title reflects my research and creative journey, making something complicated easier to understand or deal with, removing the knots from an untidy mass of string and separating the different threads, as the definition of Untangle suggests. The series wants to create an open dialogue between the work itself and the observer, leading to discussion, understanding and awareness. It explores the concepts of transformation and alteration, following the hair and the faces of the Asian women involved in the project. Their gaze avoids contact with the camera to suggest the lack of involvement and unknowing identity in the process, except for the woman at the end, the consumer that buys the products. Ultimately, Untangled questions the morality of the process, exposing our attachment to beauty standards, considering the power of capitalism and globalisation.