Bowl Cuts and 爆炸裝
Bowl Cuts and 爆炸裝
Special projects & Exhibition__Photography, 3D Modeling, Graphic Design
This is an ode to remembering Chinatown salons and the home basement salon - with double-stacked Yellow Pages as booster seats and where growing into your Asian identity began with the bowl cut. Then with bangs cut too short, tight tight perms, and failed box dyes (because you needed bleach).
See also: dye catalogues with the loops of synthetic hair; candy in the salon chair; magazine cut-outs of Asian beauty trends; the smell of perm solution, box dye from Asian grocery stores.
“Bowl Cuts and 爆炸裝 (baau3 zaa3 zong1)” started in 2022 and first debuted as a solo exhibition at Soft Gallery in the May of 2022. It is the third chapter following two other projects called “Say It with Fruits” and “License Plate with an 8”. Each are mixed-media explorations recentering my East-West upbringing and the stories of my family.
“Bowl Cuts” started as a spotlight on my mom’s career as a hairdresser and experience of growing up getting haircuts at home. And of course the role that Asian beauty plays in my identity today. But the story became also an ode to Chinatown salons and Chinatown over the years.
Watch the short doc above for a recap of the exhibtion at Soft Gallery. In the centre sits a teal blue salon chair (from my mom’s basement), two Yellow-Pages ready to be sat on, and a pair of bright red slippers to protect your feet from collecting the hair on the floor. Opposite to this little salon vignette, the other half of the room featured a life-sized print of 3D rendered dye boxes to replicate the beauty aisle at the grocery store. All with 80s Chinese pop songs playing and the soft sounds of hair shears snipping off way more than 2”.
Above:
Details of the Sooo JJ Salon facade 3D render
Above (left column, top to bottom):
Mama at the Salon in Chinatown, 1988; Mama at the Salon in Chinatown, 1988
(right): Recreated home Salon self-portrait, 2021
Below:
Recreated home Salon self-portrait, 2021; 3D render of
clips that I hated sent by my aunts in Asia
Above (left to right):
SooJJ Hair Dye magazine advertisement, rice water is used a common beauty trick for hair growth;
Box dye at the Asian supermarket, first purchased in grade 3 for blonde highlights;
Below (left to right):
SooJJ Hair Colour Catalogue, featuring common Asian foods and symbols as colour names;
Box dye detail
Above (left to right): SoooJJ Colour Sealing Conditioner Treatment Mask with Rice Water in Roasted Milk Tea R88, Blue Porcelain B88, Black Sugar B88, Dragon Dollar D88, Mangosteen M88
As ‘Bowl Cuts’ has grown, my love letter to Chinatown salons has become something bigger, looking at my memories of Chinatown as a whole. With my newest render featured in the CBC Creator Network documentary ‘Bowl Cuts': A Love Letter to Chinatown Beauty Salons’ previewed in the still below.
With eyes on the City of Edmonton announcing revitalization efforts in Chinatown, I will be continuing this project to give people a glimpse into a history of Chinatown, to continue sparking conversations with others about their memories in this neighbourhood, and to hopefully inspire the younger generation to stay connected to this important space in our City.
Stay connected to this project through my Instagram @thrvht.
