Esther Lee

The dancing girl and her hair

2019

variety of paper, yarn, thread, ink, wood

21.5"x23.75"x81"

For my third and final project I decided to make a big book, focusing on traditional Korean book binding. The technique I used was side binding, where the spine of the book is exposed and you can see the signatures and the thread that binds the pages together with a loose cover. To create an older look I dyed all the pages one by one in tea and air/blow dried them. For the content of the book I wanted to try embroidery again, but making the braided yarn the focus to talk about what it means for a girl to have long hair, not only in Korea but all around the world. For most woman, their hair symbolizes virtue, beauty and a part of who they are. In Korean traditions, a girl with long braided hair meant she was a young beautiful maiden. And, when her hair was up it meant that she was a married woman.