Don't wig out, but this artist is turning discarded denim into wearable art for our heads

From burlap to braids, paper to pixie cuts, denim to dreadlocks, Renée Mathews finds a way to deconstruct commonly discarded items and transform them into wearable wigs.

Her work is playful, invoking everything from Nigerian artist J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere's intricate hairstyle photography to common hairstyles she witnesses on her daily commute. Each style is significant because for Mathews, hair is deeply tied to our identity and can impact the way in which we are perceived by those around us.

Watch the video:

Renée Mathews: Denim Wig Artist

7 years ago

Duration 4:03

"They're not obviously current replacements for wigs, but in a very Jetsons type of way, I hope this is the beginning of thinking about other ways that we can change our hair and play around with identity."

In the above video, watch as she intricately pulls apart a pair of denim jeans, strand by strand, and then rebuilds them into wearable art. The construction of one wig can take upwards of 26 hours, whereas the time-consuming deconstruction of the denim into strands "takes infinitely longer," Renée laughs.

I kind of like the idea of it being an everyday thing you don't think about and being able to make something great or beautiful from what you can think of as ordinary to begin with.- Renée Mathews, artist

Her practice also touches on ideas of sustainability, relying on donations from kind strangers and local businesses to salvage materials that would otherwise be thrown away. As she changes her own personal hairstyle often, she acknowledges her culpability in contributing to the negative impact synthetic hair has had on the environment.

While denim is not as durable as synthetic hair and probably won't be in your local hair salons anytime soon, it's a subtle call to action to think differently about ways we can reuse objects that we regularly discard.

Find out more about Renée Mathews here.