An Artist Duo’s Haven of Synthetic Hair
Artists Merryn Omotayo Alaka and Sam Frésquez have created an immersive exhibition titled "Your Birth is My Birth" at Jane Lombard Gallery in New York, featuring large biomorphic sculptures made entirely from Kanekalon synthetic hair. The artists steamed, cut, and sewed the hair by hand, clamping it to welded metal structures to form a fantastical "Kanekalon forest" that continues their ongoing Hairland series begun in 2017. The show includes works such as "Listening Roots" (2026), "Stacking Pearl (Adolescent)" (2026), and "Hearing Bells" (2026), which evoke communal hair care traditions and explore queer, gender, and racial identity.