Static Electricity Gown
March 17th 2016
The concept for this piece was Electricity. I developed and designed a sculpture that utilizes and explores electricity. My first sculpture dress was inspired by books/videos covering static electricity, including pictures of atoms, definitions, balloons, and all things associated with static electricity. I wanted to replicate parts of science textbooks onto my dress.
The material used for the train of the dress is called, PEVA also known as the material for most shower curtain liners, I enjoyed working with this material because it was effortlessly affordable, and easy to sew through. I also decided to use shower curtain liner to mimic the structure of a real gown. I left the magnets inside the shower curtain to reinforce the symbol of electricity. The use of the shower curtain liner contributed a huge inspiration for the rest of my sculpture dresses.
It's Bitter Sweet
April 7th 2016
The sculpture that I have created brings awareness to child labor in the Ivory Coast; the top cocoa producing country in the entire world. America and other established countries have the privilege of buying chocolate without hesitation, while, on the other hand The Ivory Coast, Ghana and other West African countries cannot afford chocolate.
I have been heavily inspired to use chocolate wrappers as a repurpose element on my sculpture. I have designed and fashioned a dress as my sculpture. I could have used an industrial or home sewing machine to sew this dress. However, I hand sewed the dress for the purpose of having a deeper connection to the sense of labor. I introduced some elements such as chocolate bar wrappers to bring attention to what the production of cocoa beans is used for.
Words in French, such as le travail des enfants, meaning child labor, and liberté, meaning freedom are written in cursive on the dress along with some significant facts about the cocoa production. As for the figure/performance aspect my model wearing the dress, is placed high and elevated. It demonstrates that although her country is having problems with relative and absolute poverty, she is able to remain tall as well as strong, rising above these consistent strains in her social economy.
The Stream of Flint
May 3rd 2016
Since I wish to bring awareness to child labor in west Africa, I noticed that I am taking a humanitarian approach. Almost a month ago I had the opportunity to visit Flint, Michigan, for a community service project. I remember sitting in the lobby of holiday Inn, writing and thinking of ways to use warm water to wash my face instead of the tap water. The faucet water could possibly cause your skin to break out, so I was slightly cautious to wash my face. While exploring this life changing trip, it opened my eyes and made me appreciate water a lot more. It saddened me to see communities trying to stay together while a notorious resource was limited and contaminated.
During the trip I was able to gain more knowledge on some issues in Flint. This experience inspired me to design and create a dress based off of the water crises. I have been inspired to use water bottles, wrappers and found objects as a repurpose element. I used a home sewing machine to successfully stich all parts together.
The top of the dress symbolizes items that we value in society, natural resources that we refine into wearable jewelry, such as diamonds and pearls. With all of those positive and good elements at the top of the dress, the objects will gradually begin to destroy and deteriorate as the viewer’s eyes look further down the dress and on the train. The water bottles will go from being clear and clean to brown and contaminated. The bottom of the dress symbolizes unwanted things in society which are hazards and poisons’, dirty needles, trash bags pipes and broken glass, whereas the top of the dress symbolizes safety and clarity. The bottom of the dress reads as burdens that weigh down society but also brings communities together, such as Flint through a common crisis.