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Sayon Syprasoeuth | Los Angeles, California Hair lengths, styles, and accessories function as gender identifiers. As a male, Syrasoeuth not only challenges conventional gender coded hair length through the use of his own long hair in After Glow, but also bejewels it with glitter; accessorizing a traditionally feminine attribute. By encrusting the hair and displaying it in drape-like forms he dramatizes the physicality of gender and the piece becomes dually performative in its allusion to the role that hair plays in gender performance, as well as a reference to the gendered body. The vertical orientation of the work and the length contribute to this body reference. In a way this piece functions as a body-scape which displays the beauty and complexity of gender. The physicality of the hair also contributes a very personal and performative part of gender identity. In Syprasoeuth’s cultural background it is common to keep some hair from the deceased for memory and to serve as a kind of shrine. In this sense the piece becomes a shrine of personal identity, cultural identity, and gendered identity. The theatricality of the composition also suggests gender performance. The composition mimics theater curtains as it elegantly drapes superfluous material to add length to the cascading folds. The shadows created by the lighting further enhance this performance of gender and the glitter functions as a costume because the sparkles captivate like an elaborately beaded garment, while this costume of glitter conceals the natural color of the hair. The artist explains that his first experience in the United States was in Iowa in which his dark Asian hair stood out in a sea of blond. ”This work was about identifying with a lot of different kinds of people”, comments the artist. Therefore, the glitter is a kind of garment that both attracts attention, creating an individual identity, while also conforming to cultural standards. This wide range of identity questioning opens this piece up to multiple scenarios of gender. By using glitter which is a culturally feminine ornament and blending it with male hair After Glow becomes a performative blend of androgynous complexity. - by Sarah Finer  Sayon Syprasoeuth After Glow, 2005 Glitters, Glue, Hair 60” x 12” |