• Knotted is an on-going documentation of hair installations in vulnerable places. The installation represents the amount of hair I have pulled in the last six years. Struggling with Trichotillomania, a compulsive hair-pulling disorder, is something I’ve tried to keep hidden for as long as I can remember. Different coping strategies have helped reduce pulling such as wearing hats, wigs, using fiddle toys, medication, and monitoring. However, in places where time is spent alone, much of my pulling occurs in vulnerable places such as the bedroom or bathroom.

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• As many as 1-3% of the population compulsively pull hair – mostly from the scalp, eyelashes or eyebrows. Trichotillomania is on the increase with more cases reported on an annual basis. The presence of Trichotillomania is believed to be severely underestimated because professionals often do not inquire about it. Patients may experience such shame with Trichotillomania that they hide their hair pulling, suffering silently and feeling terribly isolated for many years before seeking treatment. Some people may pull hair during one period in their lives, only to have it stops as quickly as it started. However, for many others, it is a recurrent problem that can resurface again later in life.

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• At twenty-two years old, my relationship with my hair is fluctuating. Sometimes it can be debilitating; my self-confidence diminishing with each hair I pull. Sometimes it can be empowering, when my hair starts growing back in spots I never thought I’d have back. Through my struggle, I feel that it has become part of my purpose to help others who suffer as well. Trichotillomania can be very isolating and is not something everyone is comfortable talking about. The stigma of hair-pulling is something that makes you feel ashamed, embarrassed, and secluded. My role as an artist is to open the dialogue about these “secret” disorders that affect so many of us. By expressing myself openly and sharing my personal experience I hope to educate and help end the stigma of hair-pulling disorders.

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