New-york based design student Shurong Diao has used her hair, as well as her friend’s hair, to craft the entire roman alphabet. Using her repunzal-like locks, with the help of extensions, Diao constructed the letterforms by twisting, twirling her jet-black hair to form the alphabets against a white ground. The artist’s friend and classmate Xingpei Wang is also featured nude in the artwork along with the hair. Like the hair, she is twisted and stretched into various positions such that the hair seems organically extending from her head to form the shapes on the ground. She possesses an ethereal, nymph-like quality, adding to the elegance of the artwork’s overall aesthetic. Diao’s work is inspired by the movement of ink in chinese calligraphy. “I wanted to build a connection between Chinese characters and Roman letters by using the distinct feature of Chinese women: their long black hair, just like putting ink on rice paper to draw chinese characters.” 

Shurong Diao describes herself as a multidisciplinary designer and is currently an undergraduate graphic design student at the School of Visual Arts in New York. 

See the Artist’s website here 

Images courtesy of Shurong Diao via fastcodesign