Hair has served as a symbolic and narrative medium in postmodern and contemporary art, touching on themes of identity, gender and memory.

In the upcoming art exhibition Hairytales at the Banca Giuratale, Gozitan artist Godwin Cutajar uses human hair as both a medium and a narrative tool.

Before him, artists like Jannis Kounellis, Mona Hatoum and others have used human hair to evoke primal connections to the body and to explore themes of exile and identity.

Other artists, such as Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Wenda Gu and Sonya Clark, have also employed hair to address issues of cultural heritage and personal identity. Hair, with its strong associations to the body, becomes a vessel for expressing intimate, social and historical narratives.

Another exhibit using human hair.

Each piece operates on both a physical and psychological level.

Cutajar’s work could be interpreted by using psychoanalytic theories. Hair, in the artist’s compositions, symbolises complex emotions and unconscious drives, echoing Freudian, Jungian and Lacanian ideas.

Freudian theories suggest that hair may represent libidinal energy and childhood fixation, while Jung views hair as an archetype tied to vitality and the process of individuation.

Lacan’s concept of jouissance – a blend of pleasure and pain – adds depth to Cutajar’s exploration of the tension between desire and discomfort.

Through these out-of-the-ordinary abstract works, where dark strands of hair are set against crumpled paper, Cutajar invites viewers into a dialogue between the personal and the universal.

Each piece operates on both a physical and psychological level, offering a reflection on identity, memory and the residue of human experience.

The exhibition will run until December 2 at the Banca Giuratale in Victoria, Gozo.