Olivia Policarpo

‘peluda’ is a visual documentation of my personal relationship with body hair. By using self-portraiture and diaristic writing, the narrative of my journey reclaims my personal experiences navigating my body hair.

The project title ‘peluda’, a word in Brazilian Portuguese is used to describe a hairy woman but excludes the hair on her head. The personification of my body hair allows the relationship to be visualised, through the medium of self-portraiture with the accompaniment of diaristic writing. ‘peluda’ is a documentation of the love-hate relationship one can have with their body hair, and how beauty standards can jeopardise this relationship. The theme I have chosen to explore within my work is the taboo of body hair for women within western beauty standards. I have created hair-infused ink by using strands of my own hair and a burning process, which is featured in my book.