The following work is made of a soft black kidskin (goat) leather, with hand-sculpted basswood tong platforms, and leather suture closures in the back. It’s the first pair of shoes I’ve made.
Tarsals, Leather Tarsus
Tarsals imagine insect feet altered into the human form, shifting into exoskeleton pleats and angular tongs of the front shoe. The tarsus limb of an insect transitions into the tarsals of our ankle bones, transforming from delicate bug body into a sharp and weighted mammal.
Every new work I make is an attempt to world-build a mythical reality, transform people into characters and magical beings. I like to build characters through dolls, with stories and divine powers, and to then make their skins and outfits in fashion+garment-making. I love a complete transformation with the people wearing my clothes. I like my characters to be wearing them, and for the work to peek into the realm of the in-human, animal, and mythical. Going into footwear I had one goal, to make a set of basic insect feet that will match my current closet of work going forward.