Xuanze Wu

Xuanze Wu is a Mixed media artist inspired by social-political issues and contemporary life. By researching and recreating the daily object and materials, and utilising craft processes, she aims to bring a new understanding of life and the society we live in. Xuanze majored in fashion design at the China Academy of Art before her studies at the RCA. She employs diverse mediums and techniques in her practice from fibre art, textile crafts, to drawing and installation.

— 2021, GMT/ CET group exhibition, London

— 2021, Linger- art exhibition, London

Hair is beauty, Hair is property, Hair is power.

When the long hair of Asian woman is cut off and sold as a commodity to become 'hair' of women of other races, is a transfer of identity and power, as well as a connection and continuation of life. The silky straight dark hair as the female identity of Asian women is as humble, beautiful and affordable as they are.

While some women sell their treasured long hair for little money, others process it into wigs through heavy repetitive manual work. The labour of these women, like their long hair, is cheap and cheerful to be used and exploited by the global trading system.

By knotting and weaving wigs, Xuanze creates a chaotic beauty that seeks to expresses the power of Asian women and a fragile, circular, growing system that they construct with their bodies.

Hairvest – Size: 45×75cm

Size: Size: 55×205cm

Size: Size: 46×205cm

Hundreds of strands of hair that have lost their owners are piled up on the floor of the factory, combed, cleaned, sterilised and sewn together into a wig. Not only is women’s hair commercialization, but the simple, repetitive, labour-intensive work required to make wigs is also a trade of women's bodies and time.

By knotting and weaving of wigs, Xuanze seeks to express the power of the quiet beauty of Asian women and a fragile, circular, growing system of beauty that they construct with their bodies.

Medium:

Wig, Hair gel

Size:

Vary from 45×75cm to 55×205cm

Hairnet – Size: 45×45×75cm

Hairnet – Size: 120×75cm

When you see a wig, it is made up of the hair of hundreds of women, from females of all ages, from small towns to rural villages. And when the wig is sold to a woman, it has a new owner. In this way, the female identity flows from private to public, and from inside to outside. It is a dialogue of female energy between different regions and cultures.

Medium:

Wig, Hair gel

Xuanze Wu

Medium:

Size:

Medium:

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About

Royal College of Art