“Hair Lust,” a series of drawings by illustrator Laura Rosenbaum, will debut at the opening of HurlyBurly, the Graduate Illustration group show opening at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology on June 7.
Rosenbaum portrays characterizations of hair envy, lust and fascination in her sketchbook. Using lines and simple poetry, she expresses how women feel about their different hair textures and how they use their manes to define themselves. Describing the project, Rosenbaum said, “Nothing else quite compares to the way a girl sees herself through her hair. My capstone project, ‘Hair Lust,’ is a series of intimate drawings and prose about the introspective relationship between girls and their hair.”
“My drawings speak to this magical fiber, its silky lure, and all the yearning it induces,” she adds. “Whether it is curly, straight, wavy, kinky, fluffy, or thin, hair slides, bounces, and dances, creating a life of its own.”
The images in “Hair Lust” present beauty through a spectrum of different hair types. Sometimes humorous and sometimes longing, Rosenbaum’s hair art and prose flirt with magic and desire.
Juliane Pieper, of “Jitter Magazine for Visual Design,” writes: “Laura’s girls rule their world with untamed hair and manicured nails in rainbow colors. The artist’s sassy writing adds an ironic bite to the elegant and playful line she uses to draw her females. Her handwriting is as fresh as the girls in her images whose edge is their mystery, their strength.”
The Museum will host an opening from 5:30-7:30pm on June 7. The show will be on view through July 2. The Museum at F.I.T. is located at Seventh Avenue and 27 Street. It is open to the public Tuesday to Friday (noon-8pm”> and Saturday (10am-5pm”>.
Laura Rosenbaum is an illustrator, writer, and designer living in Brooklyn, NY. A half Jewish/half Dominican native New Yorker, she is inspired by her scattered freckles and abounding curly hair. She uses paper, ink, digital media, and makeup to create illustrations that mix girlish sass with fashion magic. Her clients include Glamour Spain, Nylon Japan, the New York City Department of Education and KnollTextiles.
