High Priestess of Space

hair art, funky hair art, modern contemporary art, space goddess art

High Priestess of Space
2012 | 16 x 20″ | graphite and paints on vellum

I love doing self-portraits because I feel more free with the likeness. The graphite is loosely based on a grainy, overexposed picture of me so I had room to play. Much less pressure.

My friend Erin Renee offered up the idea for this upon seeing a similar picture of my hair swirling around my head. Hair means all sorts of things to different cultures, and suffice to say, it’s always played a part in my self-expression.

But beyond the individualistic and group implications of various hairdos, it carries a different intrigue for me as well. In Dzogchen (pre-Buddhist Tibetan shamanism), when a master leaves the earthly realm, s/he dissolves into rainbow light and leaves only the hair and fingernails. These parts of our body are different, somehow. Less water and stardust, perhaps, and more earthly.

Either way, this piece was a study as I’m attempting to add to my animation skills. I learned a lot in making it and am already plotting the next one: