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TRAPPED: HAIRY MATTER(S)
A solo exhibition by Sue Man
4 April - 6 April 2025
Private View: 3 April 6-8 pm
Metroland Cultures

TRAPPED: HAIRY MATTER(S) explores the strange intersection between hair and jelly—two things that seem worlds apart but share a surprising commonality. One is personal, intimate, a marker of identity. The other is fragile, fleeting, and artificial. Both, however, are made from the same substance: gelatin, derived from collagen—the protein that also makes up hair, skin, and bones. The tension between the two invites questions about why one is consumed without hesitation, while the other triggers disgust once detached from the body.

What do we keep, and what keeps us? This fragmented self-portrait explores memory, identity, and the quiet weight of time. Hair—our DNA, our history—becomes relic, residue, something to cherish or repel. Preserved in amber-toned jelly, tangled in a sink trap, these traces resist disposal, demanding to be seen.

The title, TRAPPED: HAIRY MATTER(S), blends humor with discomfort, addressing the awkwardness of growing older, losing hair, and confronting bodily traces—whether found in a drain, on a pillow, or (god forbid) in someone’s food. It’s about the things we can’t escape, no matter how hard we try to hide or discard them.




The aluminum takeaway containers used as molds are identical to those from the family’s restaurant—symbols of labor, family, and cultural expectations. Growing up in a Chinese restaurant, these boxes were a constant presence, holding both food and the weight of familial and cultural rituals. Once used to contain food, they now hold remnants of the self, prompting reflection on what we preserve and what we try to forget. The installation embodies this duality: both personal and universal, familiar yet unsettling.

The LED display, flashing the phrase 甩唔甩都係你嘅 (whether it falls off or not, it’s still yours), offers a metaphor for the persistence of connection in the face of change. A playful nod to Hong Kong’s ubiquitous signage, this phrase encourages self-reflection on attachment, loss, and what continues to bind us despite inevitable shifts.

Nearby, a plate of cooked prawns, Honey’s favorite food, pays tribute to care, connection, and the things that ground us. A Tapo camera linked to an iPhone keeps watch over Honey, offering a quiet, constant act of care that reflects the often invisible ways we tend to those we love, especially when they are vulnerable. Whether caring for a beloved but ailing pet or the people in our lives, this act of looking after and being watched over ties into the broader themes of transformation, attachment, and persistence. It’s a reminder of how care can be unseen yet deeply felt, and how the things we love continue to shape our world, even in their fragility.

TRAPPED: HAIRY MATTER(S) is about transformation—the body’s, the mind’s, and the things we leave behind. It’s messy, it’s funny, and like a bad haircut, impossible to ignore. It’s about the tension between preservation and decay, between the fleeting and the enduring, and how these things shape who we are and who we become.






Photos by Sten Link