Linocut and letterpress prints, plus snippets of hair dipped in wax.
By Stephen Lee Hodgkins, (2024).
In the census of 1891 for York Union Workhouse, there are 44 female names listed with the terms ‘idiot’ or ‘imbecile’ handwritten beside them. These terms were used to describe what we might refer to today as learning difficulties or disabilities. In 1899, a local government report into ‘irregularities’ at the York Union Workhouse accused the management of forcibly cutting the hair of female inmates short. In the 1901 census, Charlotte Lofthouse and Sarah Dale are the only two female names with the terms ‘idiot’ or ‘imbecile’ handwritten beside them that also appear in the 1891 census. I think about these 44 women and wonder if and why they had their hair cut short.
Location – The Marriot Room, York Explore, 12th, 13th, 14th July.
Description – This artwork is made up of 44 linocut prints of a wig on a headstand. The hair is coloured in one of four colours: orange, pink, yellow, and green. There are eleven of each colour. On each print is the name of each woman, individually printed with letterpress type. Each print hangs on wire from a raised structure and includes a snippet of hair, each dipped in wax coloured in one of four colours: orange, pink, yellow, and green.