Abby Bagby

Lives and works in Dallas, TX, USA

Artist statement

Those pushed to the fringe have always been gatherers: of food, of stories, of others. There is strength inherent in our communal nature; we conquer displacement through connection. Symbolically removing the hair of many in order to unite it, I seek to draw on this tradition. Hair is a powerful indicator of the human experience: it carries the energy, memory, legacy of those to whom it used to belong. To believe that we are separate from the experiences of others is to lie to ourselves; womxn especially are placed in a role of imposed empathy, as if passive compassion is our inherent end. Throughout history, as we were expected to prepare food, mend clothes, keep house and keep quiet—actions which due to their exclusivity became known as “women’s work”—we found space within these confines to build communities and subvert perceived authority, to combine our power into movements, to activate our empathy. Even (and especially) in the present, a person’s hair is an exclamation of their state of being: their freedom, their solidarity, their individualism, their mental or physical health. We continue to speak to each other through this means, to absorb energy as we encounter one another, becoming enmeshed. My work recalls this interaction, this history, creating mirrors and windows without distinguishing one from another; at one moment a viewer is seeing into their own experience, at another turn, they are looking at someone else. I make environments to interrupt your reality,...

Artwork