The Hair Sculptures of Yasemen Hussein. (2nd November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Behlen, Beatrice
• Is Part Of: Fashion theory. Volume 22:Number 6(2018)
• Page Start: 751
• Page End: 773
• Publication Date: 2018-11-02
• Subjects: museum -- mannequins -- dress display -- wigs -- hair; Fashion -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Fashion -- History -- Periodicals; Costume -- History -- Periodicals; Costume -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 391.001
• DOI: 10.1080/1362704X.2018.1533351
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1362-704X

Abstract

Abstract: London-born mixed media sculptor Yasemen Hussein started to make hair out of wire after stumbling across a heap of electrical copper cable in a scrapyard in the mid-1990s. Since then her hair and other sculptures have been featured in offices, shops, galleries, and museums in Britain and abroad. In 2009, on the recommendation of Philip Treacy, Yasemen was commissioned to make metal "wigs" for mannequins in the Museum of London's Pleasure Garden display. Yasemen and the museum's senior curator of fashion, Beatrice Behlen, bonded over the many challenges thrown up by this not entirely straight-forward project. In this conversation, Yasemen and Beatrice discuss the sculptor's attitude to her own hair, chart the development of her work, explore what drew Yasemen to recreating something soft and pliable out of heavy metal, the reasons behind the particular hairstyles she chooses to sculpt, as well as her working method.