Jenine Shereos – Leaf Skeletons Made of Human Hair
Jenine Shereos is a Boston-based sculptor and installation artist who created these stunning pieces with the most unusual use of materials you have ever seen. These delicate and weightless tree leaves are made by tying together individual strands of human hair. Her idea for the Leaf series began several years ago while hiking in Northern California. She came across a number of leaf skeletons, which she collected and kept in her studio. Jenine had been interested in branching and organic forms for a long time and she was particularly drawn to the detailed and delicate nature of the leaves. It was this collection of found skeleton leaves that sparked her process of experimentation, so she set about re-creating the skeleton leaves using human hair. “I now have a whole drawer full of hair, which is probably kind of creepy!” she says. The leaves look remarkably real. The only clue of their origin is a wisp of hair that extends from the points of each leaf. The work conjures a sense of decay, and the effect is ghostly. Shereos is interested in the way our experiences of the world are absorbed through the body on both a psychological level and a biological level as well. Concepts of memory, trace and human presence are subtly alluded to within her work.
