Symmetry works on the principle of change without change thus allowing control and predictability. Eg: the human face is bilaterally symmetrical; meaning they are similar and if you see only one halo you can predict the other. These are some of the qualities of any repetition that we find beautiful.
Hair shapes the face hiding its subtle asymmetry. For women in the past it would also act as cover for one of the most seductive parts of the body; her neck. Beauty, youthfulness and femininity have thus come to be associated with the hair and its representation in the context of time. The hair is known to be a woman's identity, her "crowning glory", her sexuality and thus brings in a certain kind of desirability. However, today when women cut/shave their hair in volition, it alters the symbolic grammar and the act could then function in terms of empowerment and not as an act of sacrifice.
We are constantly exposed to the ideal version sold to us by actresses in films and hair commercials. Are we conditioning ourselves to identify with that superficiality as normalcy? Does our obsession with the aesthetics of symmetry condition us to be averse to any drastic change? Are we inevitably practicing the fundamental principles of symmetry and giving into the trap of repetition? There seems to be a sense of limitation to our understanding of possible diverse identities in the search for the ideal? This series of artworks is a representation of the quest between the living asymmetries overshadowed by the beauty and perfection of symmetry.
This project aims to explore the failure of recognition and acceptance of asymmetry as a form of desirability and identity. The created redundancy of repetition and an over— consumption of certain images help form regularised patterns of beauty, thus influencing the social understanding of a certain identity. Hair is one's identity and must be individualistic in nature. The failure lies in taking comfort in this created symmetry wherein we all follow a trend because of which one fails to see beauty in asymmetry, unpredictability and individuality.