We’re proud to announce that our very own Creative Ambassador, Shaun McGrath, is a finalist in the Avant-Garde category of 2018’s Australian Hair Fashion Awards!

This year, Shaun has created incredible, haunting images all from repurposed salon materials!

The beautiful collection of images is inspired by murmuration. Which is when hundreds of starling birds fly en masse, creating an incredible dance-like movement. Shaun based his collection around a single starling in the murmuration.

As a hairdresser for Stevie English Hair, Shaun views his daily work as a, “Journey of contemporary expression through the mediums of hair and object, as based on the human head.” Shaun tells us that he's grateful that Stevie English Hair is a cool and casual environment, where he’s given the space to create a unique and creative vision.

Of his collection for AHFA, Shaun says, “The first starling I envisioned was a work of hair I wanted to actually see fly – it was crafted from hundreds of single handmade objects suspended in ‘flight’. No one piece touches another, but together, from the ‘ground’, it appears as one symbiosis of form… a murmuration.”

The earthy makeup by Camilla Leary in the images was intended to softly complement each look. This somewhat dusty effect is representative of the Earth’s atmosphere and the environment that starlings live in.

Each of these stunning images was taken by Ben Cook, using an old-world portrait style of photography to, “emanate quietness… as if no one had noticed the starlings were there.”

All of the pieces created in this evocative collection took Shaun months to build, using only sustainably sourced materials.

The feathers you see in this collection are actually made from human hair, while the bird’s tails are created from dog hair!

“It’s as much about the message of recycling and reusing as it is about the art.”

This, to us, is what gives Shaun’s creations such an edge!

Sustainable Salons Australia provides the most comprehensive waste free systems to the professional hairdressing industry. We collect and recycle 95% of a salon’s waste and reward the salon for their recycling efforts!
Contact us here if you’d like to become a member of Sustainable Salons Australia.