Taiba Akhuetie's creations are unsettling, and that's precisely the point. Using human and synthetic hair as her medium, she transforms everyday objects—handbags, mirrors, rocking chairs, umbrellas—into something that feels eerily alive. Long, chunky braids and pin-straight strands drape over these items, giving them the haunting quality of taxidermy.
Akhuetie, whose work is set to debut at the Sarabande Foundation in London, traces her fascination with hair back to childhood. "We used to go to my mum's friend's house…" She pauses, correcting herself: "My auntie's — she would be called auntie, obviously." She recalls watching her aunt braid her sister's hair, mesmerized by the speed of her fingers. Later, in school in Kingston, Surrey, she found herself naturally skilled at plaiting friends' hair.
Her hair sculptures challenge our perception of ordinary objects, blurring the line between the animate and inanimate. They are as mesmerizing as they are strange, proving that hair can indeed be a powerful artistic medium.