Mesita Jee
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Lorraine Huang
Material exploration of two young artists from University of Leeds. Focusing on the materiality of hair and found ephemera, Lorraine and Mesita imbue strands of different ideas and themes into their respective series. Their surreal objects become vessels for research a n d f o c a l i t e m s o f s e l f e x p l o r a t i o n , e x p re s s i o n a n d h e a l i n g .
Content
m/ Study I / Mala/ 6-9 m / Wo r d s / 1 0 - 11 m/ Dwelling Spaces/ 12- 23 l/ Cure/ 24-33 l / Wo r d s / 3 4 - 3 5 l/ Untitled(Genital)/ 36-41 end/
M e s i t
Study I 2020 Monoprint on paper 29.7cm × 42 cm 6
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J e e
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Mala 2020 Hair rolled into 108 beads 58 cm length necklace 8
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In the days before the pandemic, I had taken an interest in using bodily materials in my work. I needed a medium that was transportable - something I could bring along as I moved between Malaysia and the UK. The shifts in locality and culture I have experienced ignited new inquiries into one’s own identity and body. As I began collecting fallen hair from my day-to-day, I thought about the rite of passage of Buddhist monks shaving their heads before enrolling into monasteries, or the relationship between facial hair and Islamic faith, or how the Victorians encased hair as tokens and artifacts. Hair held different symbolic values across cultural identities. As the lockdowns rolled out throughout 2020, the topic around hair (and the upkeep of) naturally became interwoven into this conversation.
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Untitled (Nest) 2021 Bird’s nest, hair 13.5 × 11 × 6.4 cm
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Untitled (In a Box) 2021 Wooden box, hair, snail shell 12.1 × 12.1 × 5.5 cm
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Untitled (In a Frame II) 2021 Wooden frame, hair, snail shell 11.5 × 16.6 × 4.2 cm
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Lorraine Huang
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Cure A Series of works
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Mending the Broken Petal 2019 Hair, petals 11.5 × 11.6 cm 28
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Mending the Broken Bough 2019 Hair, bough 26.3 × 1 × 1 cm 30
Mending the Broken Feather 2019 Hair, feather 10.5 × 11 cm 31
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Everyone’s hair is unique. Each kind of hair has its own texture and color: soft, dry, black, white, golden… Any kind of them are treated well by their masters, and decorated in different appearances: straight, curly, and even colorful.
I was attracted by the quality of hair, slender but tough. It is easy to fall off, and then disappear on the ground. It has a low sense of presence.
A gust of wind can make it get rid of gravity.
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However, it keeps coming out of our scalp, and can never be counted. I appreciate its life force.
It is a part of the body, but it can leave the body arbitrarily. I am fascinated by its sense of freedom.
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Untitled (Genital) 2020 Hair on canvas 30 × 30 cm
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Mesita Jee makes sculpture and installationbased artworks; she builds structures and objects by juxtaposing found ephemera, organic materials ad everyday items. Guided by ideas of interconnectedness, solitude, and love for natures, her works explore materiality from both the natural and human-made world.
Lorraine is an installation artist working across multiple mediums. Her works range form intricate hand-assembled objects to programmed interactive soundscapes. She believes in the healing nature of art and the creative process. She re-inteprets materials and hopes the creative results engage the audience on a physical, psychological, and spiritual level.
https://bit.ly/3rP02wd
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