Lea Culetto

In Leftovers, Lea Culetto explores the contradictory meanings attached to human hair within contemporary culture and the social imaginary. As long as it remains alive and grows on socially acceptable parts of the body, hair holds a symbolic and aesthetic value closely linked to normative ideals. Its desirability is determined by characteristics such as colour, texture, thickness, shape and length, provided they adhere to dominant gender norms. Hair is therefore valued only when it is presented as domesticated, controlled, hygienic and aesthetically harmonious.

However, once hair falls out and separates from the body, it tends to elicit reactions or rejection, shame, or even disgust. It becomes displaced organic material, stripped of its aesthetic or biological function, and thus an abject element. Culetto turns a critical eye to this symbolic displacement, questioning the social construction of what is beautiful or grotesque, intimate or unbecoming.

Biography

Lea Culetto (Slovenia, 1995), lives and works in Slovenia. She completed her PhD in painting at the University of Ljubljana's Academy of Fine Arts and Design in 2019. Culetto creates embroidery, clothing, ensembles, objects and installations through which she explores feminist issues using humour and a certain kitsch aesthetic. In her artistic practice, she examines subtle forms of parenting and gender-related social perceptions and expectations and how these are manifested in everyday life. She is particularly interested in the objectification of the female body in contemporary society, and the emphasis placed on the importance of appearance as a mechanism for controlling the body.

Lea Culetto is a recipient of the Residency for Visual Projects on Sustainability, which is part of the EU-funded SAiR project.