Birthday Suits

Crafted with delicate hand dyed textiles and mixed media, Birthday Suits delve into the intricate facets of an identity that I did not consciously choose and that culture has appropriated. These soft sculptures explore the physical, social, and cultural markers that shape who I am, from my gender, the color of my skin & hair to the circumstances of my birth. Having never met or seen a photo of a single human who shares my genealogical traits (as I’m adopted), western ideals of gender, beauty & pornography are the closest thing I have to a concept of ancestry & identity. Using only the forms of spheres and cones, these uninhabited vessels emulate aspects of my phenotypes that western ideals have captured. Through this simulacrum, I echo back real parts of me, that change with the season and through time, and that I often find simulated in salons, the makeup counter and the costume & toy aisles.

KathrynMarieHogan-BirthdaySuits1

Maybe She’s Born With It

HAND DYED SILK, USED COSTUME WIG

My link to my DNA heritage is completely severed. All I know about myself is that which can be observed; gender, skin, height and hair. Not once have I seen my eyes, my smile, or my likeness echoed in another human being. To accommodate for this, “Maybe She’s Born With It” is a compilation of observed body attributes I have worn & shed over the course of my of my life but that are often simulated in salons, media & consumer products blurring the line between reality and fabrication. This family album chronicles seasons, surgeries, and my lifelong inability to style my blonde hair.

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KathrynMarieHogan-BirthdaySuits-ArrestingDevelopment

Arresting Development

HAND DYED SILK, USED COSTUME WIG, gLASS CLOCHE, STIFFENED FABRIC, FLOCKING

Growing up in a household lacking role models participating in hair styling practices, I was left to my own devices when learning to care for and style my own long, thick blonde hair. Years worth of childhood school photos show a child with big, wild & unruly hair setting the stage for a history of attention getting failed attempts at conventional beauty practice.

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KathrynMarieHogan-BirthdaySuits-MC1R

HAND DYED SILK, COSTUME WIG, SAND

Variations in the gene MC1R are associated with light hair, freckling and sun-sensitivity. This Birthday Suit, designed to match my hair & skin after weeks of sun exposure, illustrates the limits of my natural pigmentation which is a little pink, never golden & covered in freckles. This exposure, though fashionable, is risky to my health potentially resulting in cellular damage and cancer later in my life.

MC1R

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KathrynMarieHogan-BirthdaySuits-TheChangingRoom

HAND DYED SILK, COSTUME WIG, vINTAGE CHAIR, STIFFENED FABRIC, OIL PAINT

Boutique consumer culture fabricates an illusion that our identities are changeable. Yet in truth, I can never change my body shape, age and complexion which itself has already and will only continue to further “fall out of fashion” no matter what I wear or modify on my body.

The Changing Room

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KathrynMarieHogan-BirthdaySuits-Poached

HAND DYED SILK, USED COSTUME WIG, pOLYFILL, STIFFENED FABRIC, ACRYLIC PAINT

Having been born with fair skin and natural blonde hair, I join only 2% of the population who share this rare genetic trait. Yet through consumer culture, I share my unique likeness with millions of strangers, media, toys and products. What at one time felt celebrated now feels appropriated by popular culture rendering me powerless to ever truly own my identity. Today I dye my hair, but my roots bitterly remind me every 8 weeks what will never be mine.

Poached

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KathrynMarieHogan-BirthdaySuits-AccessoryToAccessories

HAND DYED SILK, STIFFENED FABRIC, ACRYLIC PAINT, FLOCKING

This playful accessory stand begs the question, “who wears who?” Through out my life I learned to feel largely indifferent towards clothing & accessories. I absolutely abhor the thought that my identity could be communicated through costume obscuring or hiding the only thing I boldly wear everyday, me.

Accessory to Accessories

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