Grant Karpin


Final Year Senior Design & Construction

Awakening – Grant Karpin

Since the birth of ancient civilizilation, non-binary individuals have been celebrated and praised for harnessing divine power. These ethereal, gender non-conforming members of a community were visible throughout cultures across the globe. Eventually, shattered through the brutal destruction of Western colonization, gender fluidity was violently erased while the binary became entrenched. I believe that this painfully stolen history deserves a resurgence. Stronger, bolder, and more impactful than before. With my senior collection, Awakening, I embrace the grey space between and beyond our perceived ideals of the masculine and feminine form. Alien-like silhouettes and hyper-mechanical detailing reflect the internal confusion, then transformation that stems from feeling “othered” by society. Old scars, the remnants of having been labeled a “freak” or a “monster” morph into a heightened confidence beyond human ability.