Shower Thoughts

HOME

/

OFF THE CLOCK

/

Shower Thoughts

Shower curtain hanging from a curtain rod on a white wall. Printed on the inner muslin curtain in pink, red, and black are images of razor blades and text about body hair removal. There's a plastic curtain in front of the print. The curtain pulled to one side as if open.
Close up of the top corner of the curtain. The text reads "Bring a sharpened blade to the precious curves of your body and try not to make yourself bleed." The text is printed sideways and layered with images of razor blades.
Close up of the curtain with the same printed text. There are green "x" shaped stitches holding the sections of the muslin curtain together. Close up of the curtain. Layers of razor blade images are printed over each other.
Close up of the curtain. The same text has been printed with some part removed. It reads, "sharpened the precious curves of make yourself."
Close up of the curtain. A hand holding a razor blade has been printed over itself, slightly offset, in red and black Close up of the bottom corner of the curtain. The muslin curtain is longer than the clear plastic curtain.
Close up of the curtain showing the green stitching holding the pieces of the muslin curtain together.
Shower with curtain slightly open. On the outer curtain is a poem printed in pink and red ink. Close up of shower curtain with a poem printed in pink and red ink. "When did bath time become shower time? When did shower time become a chore? When did a rubber duck become a razor blade? I don't think I want to do this anymore!" "Think I" is crossed out and there are three childlike drawings of butterflies surrounding the poem.
Close up of mirror and open shower. There are mustaches drawn on the mirror and text that reads: Wear your hair! There's sheer blue fabric inside the shower.
Corner with a pink painting hanging above a shelf. On the shelf are three rubber ducks surrounding a safety razor. Hanging on a hook on the other wall is a section from a pair of orange zip-off pants. Close up of shelf with rubber ducks and safety razor. Two ducks are out of focus in the foreground, with the razor in focus in the middle.
Mirror selfie of Kate. The mirror says "Wear your hair!" in expo markers and there are four facial hair variations for the viewer to stand in front of. Kate is standing in front of a pink mustache.
The bottom part of the curtain from inside the shower. The blue sheer fabric is draped partially in front of the camera. Close up of a doodle of a flower on the clear plastic curtain.

How weird is it that we hand 10, 11, 12 year olds a razor and say, "go to town!" I remember being scared to cut myself the first time I shaved my legs, and while I continued to shave through most of high school, I never got better at it. Never did I shave without a nick, and those memories got me thinking about the quiet violence of teaching a child to bring a sharp object to the soft curves of their body in the name of western beauty standards.


V1

This piece came to be in two stages. The muslin shower curtain was a vehicle for me to purge all the negative ideas about body hair that I have unlearned but which still took up space in my mind and body. The green stitching that pieces it together represents the first step in healing.


V2

The second stage was a site-specific installation that represents a playful return to childhood with the healthy ideas about body hair that I have developed as an adult. The bath-time doodles on the clear plastic curtain can't fully erase the negative ideas underneath, but they create a more positive environment in which the viewer can be vulnerable, both physically (in the shower) and emotionally.


The sheer fabric inside the shower mimics water, evoking its cleansing properties, in both negative and positive ways. The water has the power to wash away the innocence of childhood, but it also has the power to cleanse the body and mind of the negative ideas learned in the transition to adulthood.


The poem on the outside of the curtain sums up the departure from and subsequent return to childhood ways of thinking.


V3 (ish)

I installed the curtain a third time in my BFA show, Bushy.