Creative Director/Makeup Artist/Hair Stylist: Raahat Peshwaria

1. What significant life experiences or events have influenced and shaped your artistic vision?

Attending the Hair: Untold Stories exhibition at the Horniman Museum in London with my first-year professor and peers from London College of Fashion transformed the way I view hair and my understanding of what hair can do and communicate as a non-verbal form of communication. From then on, my work has substantially expanded into the domain of hair, examining its potential both as an art form and as a material that is intricately linked to our identity and our relationship with others.

2. Collaboration often sparks fresh creativity. Can you share an example of a collaboration that led to an unexpected and exciting artistic outcome?

Most of my projects have been produced in collaboration with photographers, stylists, designers and models. Flowers of One Garden is one such example where the results were rewarding. The addition of armour, for instance, was Maya’s (the stylist’s) idea, which I thought worked well with the concept. Flowers, braids and apparels with apertures juxtaposed with rigid armour brought the fluid and complex nature of identity. This mix of soft and hard signifiers made the resulting images visually compelling.

3. Walk us through a specific project that challenged your creative boundaries. How did you approach it, and what did you learn from the experience?

I created a textile piece using hair as a material for an exhibition in London last year. I did not know the step-by-step process of how to create the textile. Although my family has been involved in the textile industry in India for more than a century, my knowledge of textiles is limited. During this time, Magdalena Abakanowicz’s textiles were on display at the Tate Modern. Her method of working without a template and using bare hands to craft textiles connected with me on many levels. I let my intuition guide my creative process, with the final piece emerging through the interaction between the hair, my hands and my subconscious. Braiding and hand-knitting were the two techniques that formed the basis of this textile. I have continued to approach hair in a way that isn’t methodical but rather guided by intuition and imagination.

4. In the ever-evolving art world, what do you believe sets your work apart and makes it unique or groundbreaking?

My practice has evolved to extend beyond aesthetics. I engage with social and cultural debates in my work while also exploring how hair intersects with art, fashion, culture and identity. This has opened new understanding, spaces and possibilities for my practice.

5. As you reflect on your journey, are there any specific goals or milestones you've set for your artistic career in the coming years?

I currently employ both human and synthetic hair for my hairpieces. Moving forward, I am interested in exploring the use of discarded human hair in my creative practice. I learnt how Sanne Visser, a London based materials researcher and designer, collects discarded human hair from salons and converts it into yarn using traditional craft techniques like spinning and ropemaking. Since human hair grows abundantly and without putting pressure on Earth’s resources, turning to circular models and overlooked materials such as human hair waste can make my practice more meaningful and sustainable.