blue and white bowl, 2014
In September 2014, I started the process of turning my hair into a blue and white bowl. I wanted to turn part of my body into an object. In collaboration with hairstylist Melody Cuellar, we cut about 12 inches of my long and straight dark brown hair off and in stages shaved, cut, shaped, and bleached my hair to a white blonde.
After the perfect bowl shape was achieved, I cut paper stencils of traditional Chinese symbols to adorn my hair. Using a blue hair dye spray purchased from a beauty supply store, we were able to spray cobalt blue color through the stencil to create my blue and white bowl cut.
The bowl hair cut is what I consider a rite of passage for all Asian children. We were all the victims of our mother's at home haircuts that resembled the shape of a rice bowl atop our heads. It is a non gender specific hairstyle but easily recognized by Asians.