‘Loose Ends’ Art Exhibition by Noor Haydar

Hair is a divisive subject, and full of contradictions: I began a journey of investigation into myself and society, through the subject of hair. ‘Loose Ends’, an exhibition of painting, sculpture, installation and film is a culmination of this body of work.

Whilst some head-hair is the embodiment of beauty, and something deemed alluring enough to be covered up in Islamic society, body hair is perceived as something mostly superfluous, often subversive and even repulsive. Today many women are fully waxed and an ideal image for men is to be bare chested. Body hair has been authorised for removal.

The digital age we live in is a self obsessed, selfie and vacuum packaged time.

It is not hair that is repellent or appealing, it is its placement which affects our perception.

Displacement is familiar to me. Being born during the civil war inevitably meant that my family had to constantly relocate. We changed houses, schools and countries many times. This instability triggered my obsession with documenting and collecting bits of me that are lost. I want to transform the loss into something tangible.