Hair 2 Dye 4

The "Salon Series" or "Curl Up and Dye" continues in the tradition of the “memento mori,” while specifically relating to living and dying in America. These graphic paintings mimic a style of beauty shop signage popularized in the 1980's. This series was inspired in part by my fascination with Victorian hairwork wreaths, mementos made entirely of knotted human hair. Hair has so much baggage not to mention biblical power, glam power and visceral power. Before photographs, lovers traded locks of hair as intimate keepsakes. Today the global hair trade is huge. It must be hair's transient connection to the body that begs comparison to our own profound mortality. Each piece in this series is inspired by an actual beauty parlor whose name honors the duality of life and death.