Weaving Pin Loom Hair Weave #8 (In honor of Agnes Martin), 2021

Pin Loom Hair Weaves Series

New York, Ongoing

Artist’s dark and gray hair, silk thread, and brass rods
Dimensions Variable
Framed 10” x 10”

My interest in weaving comes from growing up in Guatemala, with its strong textile tradition.

Since 2012 I create small weaves with my hair—either dark and/or white—instead of thread on a pin loom, using a needle, and meticulously weaving one hair at a time.

For the warp (vertical lines) I use silk thread, and for the weft (horizontal lines) I use my own hair.

These laborious pieces are an evocation of time and meditation to talk about aging, beauty, heredity/DNA, among others.

Each piece is framed 10” x 10”, as shown in the Exhibition Details section below.

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Pin Loom Hair Weave #8
(In honor of Agnes Martin)

Artist’s dark and gray hair, silk thread, and brass rods
4.5” x 3.75” approx.
Framed 10” x 10”

Being inspired by the work of Agnes Martin these Pin Loom Hair Weaves Series reflect on a minimalist approach and honors her legacy.

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Pin Loom Hair Weave #7
(In honor of Agnes Martin)

Artist’s dark and gray hair, silk thread, and brass rods
4.5” x 3.75” approx.
Framed 10” x 10”

Being inspired by the work of Agnes Martin these Pin Loom Hair Weaves Series reflect on a minimalist approach and honors her legacy.

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Pin Loom Hair Weave #6

Artist’s gray and dark hair, silk thread, and brass rods
4” x 6” approx.
Framed 10” x 10”
Private Collection

This stripe pattern was created using the same color of hair coming from the same side every time; then reversing the order.

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Pin Loom Hair Weave #5
(In honor of Agnes Martin)

New York, 2017-19

Artist’s gray and dark hair, silk thread, and brass rods
4” x 3.5” approx.
Framed 10” x 10”

For this piece, I wanted to work with a limitation of using only hairs that were at least 20” long, to create an alternation of fine white or dark lines when seen up close.

The final color that is achieved reminds me of my overall hair color at the time.

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Pin Loom Hair Weave #4

Artist’s gray and dark hair, silk thread, and brass rods
4” x 6” approx.
Framed 10” x 10”
Private Collection

Inspired by the ombré technique, I wanted to replicate this effect with only my white and dark hair. I resolved it by interlocking the hair at the middle in four different points, to create a soft gradation.

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Pin Loom Hair Weave #3

Artist’s gray hair, silk thread, and brass rods
4” x 3.5” approx.
Framed 10” x 10”

I used only my white hair for the weft in this monochrome weave.

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Pin Loom Hair Weave #2

Shifu (paper thread), artist’s dark hair, silk thread, and brass rods
3.75” x 3” approx.
Framed 10” x 10”

In 2012 while being a resident at The Center for Book Arts, I learned about Shifu, a Japanese paper thread technique which is formed by rolling the paper with your fingers.

For this piece, I was interested in experimenting with other materials, thus I decided to combine the Shifu that I made along with my dark hair.

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Pin Loom Hair Weave #1

Artist’s gray and dark hair, silk thread, and brass rods
3.75” x 5” approx.
Framed 10” x 10”
Artist’ Collection

In 2012 I created my first attempt to do weaving using my favorite material: my own hair. Throughout the years, I have collected—along with my gray hairs—some transition hairs, those which start white and then change to dark or vice versa.

For this first piece I wanted to use that type of hair, starting with a dark end and finishing with a white one, then the next one would be starting with a white end and finishing with dark, and so forth, creating a variegated pattern.

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Watch a Conversation Online with Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro

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