Brief below to elaborate on what my intentions were and message I wanted to put forward in my two piece collection I’m working on. The themes and ideas discussed here not only apply to these two pieces, but are ideas that can be seen throughout my works, ideas that I come back to time and time again.
collection brief
My theme is ‘life in sculpture’, as time has gone on I’ve gone down the path of fashion more specifically as I go on to create my final piece. I aim to create a small collection of pieces that encompass my experiments and inspirations throughout the first unit as I tried and tested out different concepts and mediums. It’s about life in the way it’s about humanity, it’s about violence, it’s about power, it’s about struggle, it’s about womanhood and femininity, it’s about the human body, it’s about gender identity, it’s about societal expectations, it’s about the life of the natural world and how ours intertwines with such, it’s about the blood in our veins, it’s about the fungus that feeds off decay, it’s about the seaweed that floats peacefully across the ocean’s surface, eventually landing on the shore, to be overlooked. It’s about everything that life is, what life has been, and what life could be.
For the first one in my collection the message seemed much clearer to me. The themes and meanings behind the piece seemed innate to me. It’s centered around bloody red hues, fleshy textures, it shows humans from the inside out. It shows us the grotesque and gruesome of the human body, and in doing so, I wanted to contrast the macabre and off putting atmosphere created by such raw imagery with the femininity associated with garments such as dresses and corsets. I wanted to create a distinct contrast in order to ask the question to viewers what does femininity mean? What does it mean to oppose constructs of femininity? And how does or doesn’t this piece conform to beauty standards?
At its core this piece is not only about the antithesis of concepts within the piece, but it’s about conformity, and opposing the expectation of conformity, it’s about the beauty standards women are held to. It’s about showing femininity in a way that isn’t frail, isn’t dainty, and isn’t easy to look at. It’s confrontational, weird and its unconventional. I want the viewer to feel uneasy looking at it. To oppose conformity is to make certain people uncomfortable. To challenge the status quo is to challenge what is and isn’t acceptable. I wanted to do this with my piece. I think it’s also a piece about bodily autonomy, it’s about the struggles, the violence of women’s oppression. Yet, at the same time, for example like the meat dress lady gaga wore in its bold statement I think it’s about empowerment, I also think in its visceral and unrestrained depiction of fleshy structures it is reminiscent of the concept of feminine rage. It’s about unfiltered and raw anger, it’s about power, it’s about challenging what should and shouldn’t be done. It’s about challenging authority. Pieces such as ‘Pipilotti Rist, Ever is Over All (1997)’ and ‘Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes (ca. 1620)’ come to mind when thinking about these concepts.
Another thing that I think is important in this piece is I see it as a satirical piece that criticises the hypocritical rules placed on women and women’s bodies in society. The idea that you should be modest. But not too modest or else you’re a prude. You can show some skin, but not too much skin or else you’re shameless and have no self worth. The idea that the way you dress says something about you and your self worth, your availability, your autonomy. I wanted to look at this way in which women are oppressed and discriminated against and thus create a piece that is fleshy, that shows too much skin, too much of the body, an ironic way of making a statement about the standards women are held to.
To a certain extent I wanted my other piece to be the opposite. One draws inspiration from within, the body itself, executed as an outward display. While the other draws inspiration from the surrounding natural landscape drawn inwards as a garment that blurs the line between self and nature. One was a display of the violence of beauty standards and female power in the way it showed the body from the inside out. Jutting out, at odds with its environment. I wanted this one to be almost tranquil, harmonious with its surroundings in comparison. I drew inspiration from the idea of being at one with nature, the protagonist being described as a “daughter of nature” this idea conveyed throughout this book, Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. I wanted to show that despite the struggle, the beauty of femininity, the beauty of womanhood in connection to nature. Long throughout time women have had a deep connection to the land around them, in tune with the natural world. I wanted to highlight this by using natural elements such as green earthy hues and live seaweed into the piece as I drew inspiration from the coastal landscapes of the Welsh shores.
I also wanted to draw inspiration upon folklore such as sirens and mermaids, a fixture of the oceanic landscape. I wanted to demonstrate the idea of being in tune, almost a part of the landscape. The idea of sirens are interesting imagery to draw from in this collection. On one hand it is for aesthetic reasons, to draw ideas and inspiration from the deep wide ocean. A part of the ocean. Not something slick and elegant, but something raw and unrefined, twisted tangled seaweed, flowing, captivating, yet something unnerving in its chaos. On the other hand, I wanted to draw upon the folklore of the mythical creature, luring sailors to their deaths with their hypnotic voices. I wanted to demonstrate female power in a different way. Additionally I was also inspired by the idea of the garment being washed up upon the shore, discarded, now landed on a beach somewhere, algae, seaweed, netting, shells, matted and tangled together. It suggests something about the inevitability, the inescapability of nature, that there is an inherent, intrinsic connection to the earth, to the landscape around us, almost as if a calling.
I think that the netting texture I wanted to incorporate into this piece is a significant part in this multilayered piece, a piece up to interpretation as it is ultimately a piece that draws inspiration from so many different sources and ideas. While the first one was straight forward in its message to me, this piece was more of an exploration, a slow uncovering of its themes and ideas I’m trying to communicate. I wanted to convey this idea of difficulty, confinement, disconnect. The netting suggests being trapped, something that follows from themes of oppression and limiting standards and norms from the first piece. That these expectations confine us and limit our self expression and sense of self confidence from an early age in our society. I think it’s also worth discussing how it suggests a sense of struggle that comes with these gender norms placed upon you and how that can affect your sense of identity. I question what it means to be feminine, what it means to be a woman in society, how I do, or do not conform to the expectations of my gender within society, and if in society we as human beings had complete freedom of expression and identity, how would that affect who I am, who I could be, and how I present myself within society.
Ultimately, this piece was inspired by the ocean as it stems not only from my appreciation for nature but a connection with the ocean. There’s something so calming, yet powerful about the ocean. One minute it’s rolling waves crashing gently against the shore, the next its huge thunderous waves, violently crashing against each other, giant engulfing waves, dangerous and vast, there’s something so entrancing about it, something about its distinct duality. The piece is an endothermic absorption of inspiration from the natural beauty that surrounds me.
Ruby French 