Bushy

This show is the culmination of a year of hard work and much, much longer of ruminating on body hair and gender.

My first memories of being embarrassed to be hairy were in middle school. In 6th grade my friend told me that someone said I had beastly legs. I started shaving after that. In 7th grade at a party, during a blindfolded kissing game, the other girl guessed that I was a guy because of my lip fuzz. I started plucking after that.

The shower was a confined, slick space where I cut myself often. Smooth 15-year-old legs dotted with drops of blood. The muslin lining of the shower curtain was the first work I made for this show — a purge of uncomfortable memories and feelings to make way for something new.

For 3 years 6 months and 20-something days (at the time of this show) I’ve been in a relationship with someone who has celebrated every single part of me, the hairy parts, the parts other people never liked. As my partner has explored gender, they’ve given me the confidence to do a little gender-fuckery myself. And so this show came to be — over many, many hours of printing, sewing, beading, thrifting, spray-painting, experimenting, trying, failing, and wearing.

That said, no more beating around the bush ;)

Wide view of a gallery with a pink mannequin in the middle. There are two small tables with various accessories around it as well as a fuzzy chair, a fuzzy stool, and a lamp. There are layered rugs on the floor. In the back is a vanity set up with a mirror, pink lamp, and accessories. On the other side is a table with a mannequin bust wearing a beaded chest hair shirt. On the back wall is hairy vinyl lettering that says the show title: BUSHY. Zine spread with photos of Lex wearing a gold bush and mustache. Mannequin head wearing a lace beard with a lace collar around the base. It's on a table with a sheer iridescent blue fabric over it, sitting in front of a mirror. Behind the head is a floral shaped lamp with a pink light casting patterns on the wall. There's also a stack of zines on the table. Zine spread with photos of Lizzie wearing a lace bush and beard. Close up of a pair of brown framed glasses with a beaded pearl mustache and soul patch hanging from the rims. It's sitting on blue iridescent fabric. Zine spread with photos of Wren wearing a red bush made of tubing and beads, red framed glasses with a beaded pencil mustache, and rocking natural pit hair. Close up of a beaded bush. It's made of smooth oval balck beads and iridescent beads forming a dense clump of pubic hair. It's sewn onto red fabric with a border of round black beads and it's mounted on a purple board. Zine spread with photos of Estevan wearing red framed glasses with a beaded pencil mustache, a red bush, and a pink and blue butterfly-shaped bush. The back right corner of the gallery. There's a clothing rack with leg hair pants, a dress with a lace bush on it, and a shirt with chest hair and fake nipples on it. To the left of the rack is a small table with a mannequin bust on it wearing a black beaded chest hair shirt. On the wall is the title vinyl that says: BUSHY. There's a white fuzzy chair in the foreground partially off camera and a vanity setup in the back, also partially off camera. Zine spread with photos of Estevan and Cam wearing a spiked bush and rainbow bush respectively, and posing together. Cam is wearing glasses with a rainbow handlebar mustache and unibrow and Estevan is wearing a mustache made of stone star beads. Close up of a shirt with beaded armpit hair on a mannequin. The black and iridescent beads are looped to look like thin strands of hair on the edges and more densly clustered hair in the middle. Out of focus in the background is a vanity set up. Zine spread with photos of Cam wearing a rainbow bush, glasses with a rainbow handlebar mustache and tassel unibrow, and a lace beard. Nix looking in the mirror. The lighting is dark with a pink lamp casting a glow on their face. They're wearing brown framed glasses with a pearl mustache and soul patch hanging from them. Their chin is resting in their hands. Zine spread with photos of Amel wearing a medusa merkin on a harness with nothing else on and a stubbly bush made of french knots of various sizes and materials. She's also rocking natural pit hair. Close up of a pair of clear framed glasses on an orange flower table. They have a pink, purple, and yellow tassel trim attached to the top like a unibrow, and a rainbow beaded mustache hanging from the frames. There's a pair of red framed glasses out of focus in the foreground, slightly blocking the rainbow mustache. Zine spread with photos of Clara wearing red framed glasses with a rainbow handlebar mustache and brown framed glasses with a black beaded mustache. One wall of the gallery with two colorful boards hung up in the middle with large colorful push pins. On the top board are two mounted bushes with an empty space in the middle. The bottom board has three mounted bushes. To the left, out of frame, is a safety pin chain also hanging from a giant push pin. To the right is a harness, also hanging with giant push pins, that has a merkin in the shape of an archaic medusa head on it. Zine spread with photos of Clara and Maeve posing together. Clara is wearing brown framed glasses with a black beaded mustache and Maeve is wearing a red bush made of tubing and beads. 3/4 view of the gold bush mounted on a colorful board. The edges of the bush are spiked and it has layered gold tassels and chains on it. Two other bushes on the board are out of focus in the background. Zine spread with photos of Maeve wearing a red bush made of tubing and beads and a gold beaded mustache. Low-light close up of a teal tank top on a colorful mannequin bust with black beaded chest hair on it. The beads making up the chest hair are very small and some are iridescent. There's a pink reflection from an off camera lamp in some of the beads. Zine spread with photos of Nix wearing a safetypin bush, a mustache made of stone star beads, and showing off their happy trail. Close up of a stack of zines spread out on a pedestal. The pedestal is covered in a sheer, iridescent green fabric. Kate is on the cover of the zine wearing body hair clothes and accessories. The zine is titled the same as the show. Zine spread with photos of Nix wearing a rainbow bush with jeans and a pink mini-crop top that shows off their top surgery scars. In another photo they're wearing a shirt with fake chest hair and nipples on it and a pink miniskirt with a black beaded bush on it. They're also wearing red framed glasses with a black beaded mustache. Another view of the back right corner of the gallery with a clothing rack and mannequin bust. In the foreground to the left, partially off camera, is a full body mannequin wearing orange convertable pants with the zippers partially unzipped. In the foreground is a white fuzzy chair and a lamp giving warm soft lighting. Zine spread with photos of Kate and Nix posing together. Kate is wearing leg hair pants and a lace beard and Nix is wearing a red shirt with fake chest hair and nipples on it, a pink miniskirt with a black beaded bush, and red framed glasses with a black beaded mustache. Close up of a mannequin head on a low table. It's wearing tortoise shell glasses frames with a black beaded mustache hanging from them. To the left is a pink, blue, and purple beaded bush in the shape of a butterfly made with butterfly shaped beads and sequins. Behind the head, out of focus, is a vanity set up. Zine spread with photos of Kate wearing leg hair pants and a lace beard. In one photo their pant zipper is down to reveal some pubic hair. View of the left gallery wall which has many photos of people including Kate wearing body hair clothes and accessories. The photos are in colofrul frames of various sizes. In the foreground to the left is a floor-length standing mirror and a fuzzy stool. In the right-middle is an orange table shaped like a flower with zines and accessories on it. To the right is a table shaped like a giant lego with a mannequin head on it, and to the right of that, mostly off camera, is a full body mannequin with it's arm in the air. Zine spread with photos of Kate wearing a tank top with black beaded chest hair on it, a bush made of thrifted buttons with a looped trim, and brown framed glasses with a black mustache. The gallery trhough a transparent shower curtain with orange doodles on it. There's a mannequin wearing body hair clothes, lots of rugs on the floor, and soft warm lamp lighting.

Download a printable copy of the zine

BFA Show, March 2024