Av Grannan is an interdisciplinary artist who works with creating wearable functional art. She believes that by making people feel creative while they wear a piece of clothing or accessory it brings more worth to everyday items. The garments come to life differently on each individual. Av primarily works with sustainable or up-cycled leather, canvas, fabrics, and natural fibers. As she creates work for each collection, she thinks about the history of the raw materials. Whether that be using a couch from the side of the road or old army wear, the material’s journey builds the work she creates. Combining these different materials with other objects that she has taken apart, helps the pieces come to life. For instance, taking apart old baby dolls, then using their eyes and parts for new work. Av’s wearable artwork has layers of different stories built up and sewn together; making a new narrative that becomes unusual and unique.
Sublime Remains Collection, Glitching Pleat Dress, and Topo Map Alligator Bag
Pleated dress with gauze cinched slip. Topo map quilted jacket with paneled snap pants, and alligator body bag. Collaboration with Katie Craymer on the machine knit sweater. All shoes are made from deconstructed shoes and tires.
Sublime Remains Collection, Manipulated Grass with Deer, and Grey Road with Foliage
Layered cinched fabric that was then quilted and patterned along with a full body leather doe bag. Beside is a road dress with grass cinched foliage on the side and a opossum resting on the grass. Image on the right by Amy Limpinyakul. All shoes are made from deconstructed shoes and tires.
Sublime Remains Collection, Aerial View of the Earth
Hand felted wool, cut and sewn to be an aerial view from a plane. The leather bird is soaring over the sky. Image on the right by Amy Limpinyakul and on the left by Ethan Pombo. All shoes are made from deconstructed shoes and tires.
Sublime Remains Collection, Frog Leaping Through the Sky
Machine Knit sweater with garment and paneled wrap skirt. Hand sewn leather frog bag. All shoes are made from deconstructed shoes and tires. Photo by Michela Colognese.
Sublime Remains Collection, Cloud Poncho, and Rabbit Running Through the Field
Reflective cloud poncho with cotton paneled pants and a mesh balaclava. Garment on the right is a leather rabbit running over a wool field. All shoes are made from deconstructed shoes and tires. Photo by Michela Colognese.
Sublime Remains Collection Illustrations, Illustrations
Sublime Remains Collection Illustrations, Illustration/ Topo Map Mood Board
Sublime Remains Collection Illustrations, Illustration/ Aerial Wool Garment Mood Board
Sublime Remains Collection Illustrations, Illustrations
Sublime Remains Collection Mood Board, Mood Board
I have created a hyperreality with roadkill. As a society, we are more disconnected from nature than ever. In place of our intrinsic need to connect to nature, we are becoming more dependent on distortions of reality like virtual games and the unreal existence of Disneyland. Fantasies have come to constitute reality. With this collection, I am presenting a fake symbiotic relationship with perished animals and humans. This new relationship connects individuals back to the sublime of nature and the environment. Functional wearable art is vital in society to change the consumer mentality. Making people feel creative while they wear a piece of clothing or accessory brings more worth to everyday items and pays homage to nature. Leather has been upcycled from various places to give it new life. Similar to roadkill, I find leather couches on the street that are set to be thrown away. I harvest the leather, and just like taxidermy, I adorn the skin to come alive once again. I paint insects on the leather, embellished with gems and handmade glass pieces to represent the objects that lay with them on the side of the road. While trying to visualize my hyperreality, I researched Rogue Taxidermy. This art movement made mixed-media sculptures inspired by conventional taxidermy-related materials but used in an unconventional manner. Instead of killing animals, they used animals that died naturally, roadkill, and discarded livestock. The main reasoning behind Rogue Taxidermy was that nothing that was once living should be taken for granted. I looked at roadkill and sketched. I was reanimating nature in my mind to build characters for my collection. I rendered my illustrations and added three-dimensional qualities to transform them into a new avatar. I started to think; What are the environments where these creatures live? The garments become the playground biome for these creatures to lay. From wrapping your body in a topo map to oversized glitching grass taking over the body, the animals scurry and survey their new home. As artists, we are continually trying to have our audience update their evocation. As I create a new reality, I want the audience to question their memories of nature. Are you sure that your recollection of nature is accurate, or do you need to experience nature again? See for yourself.