Debate over Mourning Hair Art...

I recently got into a big debate with my boyfriend about my recent fascination with using mourning hair art jewelry in my trinket making. Also the fact that I won a bid on eBay for three brooches at $108 freaked him out a little. (He didn't flip the bill so why should he freak out?) He then compared my use of something that contains items of a deceased person to that of an artist who he had recently read about who did something similar (painting of ghost) and failing to sell her work. The artist was recently featured in Juxtapoz Magazine who made a series of paintings containing ghost and even though she had received lots of positive feed back she never sold not even one of her paintings. Basically, people thought it was cool but wouldn't want to hang it in their homes. Guess the association of death is what freaks people out. I get it. We don't want to see dead people hanging on our walls. Now for my point...

True, I am using hair from a deceased person and turning it into something else. Sounds morbid but when you think about it when these locks of hair were taken and woven into a small tiny braid it was done by a family member who was in mourning for their loss of their loved one. They wanted to remember them and back in the Victorian era this was a common form of mourning.. (Read my blog below about Mourning Hair Art for more information of the etiquette of mourning). So, alas I feel that it is a beautiful way to remember a loved one. Their intention was purely that of good and out of love. It is also sad that the brooches are no longer within the family.

I started out thinking of using button mourning pins and using them for new pieces then the idea of mourning hair art came into mind. I researched some on line and began thinking of ways that I could manipulate the brooches into something other than a brooch. I won a bid of three small ones in which have the names of the deceased and dates of passing engraved on the back. I am really excited about getting these in and can not wait to work with them. My intention is not to tear the brooch apart in fact I want to leave the hair in tact and possibly actually for sure utilize the nifty drill in making it something else other than a brooch. So, the boyfriend is not so keen on the idea of a dead persons hair and questions who would be into it and seriously consider buying and wearing my re invention of what I will now call "eternity art" He asked "what goths go to the shows that you are in"? I have no doubt that it will no only stir interest perhaps that of disgust and curiosity but it will set what I do apart. I did get a little spooked one night after a friend mentioned that she had hoped that the hair of the deceased was that of a good person. I concur!

Another point that I have is that I "RECYCLE" vintage items.. Many of which belonged to someone who has passed. The only difference between the Mourning Hair Art and vintage items I use is that the hair is an obvious reminder of a dead person. Sure, it's different to some creepy but to each their own. I do for the record smudge everything with Sage before I use it. Call it crazy but I read a book years ago( Healing Negative Energy by Anne Jones) plus went to a Feng Shui course that touched on the topic about clearing both negative and predecessor energy. So, this is what will be my upcoming project and it will be in my next show Graffiti Beach Indie Lux Pop-up store show. I will post final photos when I am done. Tickets are still up for grab for the show.. The image I used was that of what was on line.


http://thingsgoneby.com/museum/mournartmuseum.html