Like embroidery, spinning, sewing, or lace-making, hair art is an art form that is rarely recognized as such. This relegation to the status of a hobby or craft is undoubtedly linked to the fact that it was generally considered women's work. When it is known, hair art is often perceived as a Victorian oddity, strange or even repulsive to some, rather than understood as an art form that brought comfort to those in mourning before the advent of photography replaced it as a relic of the individual. This erasure from the history books hinders our understanding of the evolution of human feelings. 
 
We wish to shed light on this forgotten art form.
 
Hair art was a sentimental testimony, not only for those in mourning, but also for all those who missed a loved one. It allowed the creation of family treasures attesting to the kinship between family members whose hair was used, as is the case with family hair wreaths. In this piece, we seek to create a sense of kinship between people united by a common desire for regenerative funeral practices and the plant life we aim to integrate when we die. 

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Rather than depicting flowers, as was often the case in Victorian times, “Shroud for a Vital Death” draws inspiration from root, neural, and mycelial networks. It is an ode to the mycorhizosphere, which aims to highlight the importance of these precious, yet previously unknown, components of the Earth. The hair, glossed with beeswax for the embroidery process, resembles small pearls or tiny insects side by side.