For my latest work (Images 1-6), I am inspired by a family heirloom ceramic Dresden doll from my great grandmother. The doll wears a fragile lace garment made from cotton lace dipped in porcelain and glaze. High temperatures during the kiln firings burn away the lace, leaving a delicate shell of ceramic and glaze. Although the thin ceramic is extremely sensitive to contact, it will last thousands of years, even when chipped or pulverized into dust. Dresden Co. began production in the early 18th century. These figurines, like my great grandmother’s, are recognizable for their pale pigments and exuberant quantity of ceramic lace (Image 4).
I set out to develop a method of attaching ceramic onto a sustainable garment, experimenting to find a method to make them strong and viable. The ceramic pieces I formulated are intended to act as large beads which can be cut, reused, and transferred to new garments. This is a sustainable method of adorning clothing, as they can be passed down for generations, similar to how my great grandmother’s Dresden doll was given to me.
The process of creating the ceramic pieces such as the handle on the handbag, butterfly wings on the handbag, and decolletage butterfly ornaments with a bib piece reflect Dresden doll production. I blended porcelain into a paste and then piped lace-like ceramic designs. They were then fired, glazed, and fired a final time (Image 7). I attached them to my garment, belt, and handbag using thread covered with seed beads from thrifted jewelry. The matching ceramic handle on the handbag is attached with silver wire coated in beads.
I also only used recycled fabric in my garment and handbag, including vintage handkerchiefs, doilies, and a lace tablecloth. I developed my own pattern for the handbag and garment. I manipulated the thrifted material with smocking and pleats, so the material is no longer recognizable as a flat, two-dimensional fabric. After creating fabric manipulations, I draped the fabric on a dress form and developed the patterns by smoothing and cutting my material one seam at time. I made the pattern and ceramic pieces simultaneously, as both the form of the cloth and the shape of the ceramic pieces influenced the outcome of my garment, handbag, and belt.
In my work from last semester (Images 8-10), I made a two-piece ensemble with a sleeveless top and drop waist skirt. The garment is made from over 20 yards of muslin fabric. The surface of the garment features densely packed layers of manipulated fabric such as ruffles, stuffed tubes, muslin flowers, and pleats. Most of these manipulations are hand sewn. This garment developed alongside a satirical design collection I made inspired by American Beat poets of the 1940s.
I provide images from two photoshoots of the garment. In the first photoshoot location, the model lays across a table with exotic cheeses, silk scarves, and fresh fruit to satirize the American Beat poets romanticization of a “hobo life,” when they had, in actuality, lavish lifestyles. The second photoshoot location is in a bathroom as another satirical comment on Beat poets’ resistance to consumerism and rejection of fashion. By modeling in the bathroom, the extravagant white garment comically suggests a bath towel. A bath towel and my Beat poet garment are two polarized ends of fashion.
Images 1-4, photographer: Cole Schnaudigel.
Images 5-10, photographer: Adrienne Powell.