Jenine Shereos

Sculptor and installation artist Jenine Shereos stitches and knots human hair to create pieces of art that resemble leaves. This is one of the more unconventional uses of a natural material I’ve ever seen. Shereos’s idea for the Leaf series began several years ago when she was hiking in Northern California, and came across several leaf skeletons, which she saved. Jenine Shereos describes her work: “In this series, the intricacies of a leaf’s veining are recreated by wrapping, stitching, and knotting together strands of human hair. Inspired by the delicate and detailed venation of a leaf, I began stitching individual strands of hair by hand into a water-soluble backing material.

At each point where one strand of hair intersected another, I stitched a tiny knot, so that when the backing was dissolved, the entire piece was able to hold its form. Creating this work was a very meditative process for me, as I found myself lost in the detail of the small, organic microcosms that began taking shape.” Each leaf takes months to complete.

Clay is the earth, wood is the forest and fiber is hair. People use animal hair when spinning wool, and so Shereos’ work reminds us of our basic connection to nature. It’s elemental.

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