So now to a work of filigree, of fine paper cutting, as I work on the third garment of the series “…bloody Women…!” The white (slightly sheer) over-dress of this piece will be longer than any others I’ve done, the red under-dress will be shorter and more opaque. The piece is to be called White Queen/Red Devil.
I anticipated my drawing of a female model would be life-size, perhaps just over 6ft tall. In fact it will stand just over 8ft tall. This means that the young girl by her side will be almost my height and the baby shown sitting at their feet will also be larger than life-size. This is necessary for the final show where they’ll be seen standing against the far wall. I’m struggling however with what word/wording to write on the vest top of each. I’m exploring French and English but haven’t quite hit upon what I want; something that sums up the influence of adults/individuals over children/others, subtle as well as obvious as it is. Something that suggests how it spreads/can be inherited. They are each to be wearing their own version of the same outfit, the wording (when I decide upon) will vary only slightly the look of each.
An area of fashion I must surely examine in the future is that of uniforms. In comparison to the unique quality of each piece I’ve made so far, not just regarding the detailing (text and imagery) but also the style/look/colour etc, I’m intrigued to explore the effect of a range of paper garments made to look exactly alike. Each piece apparently the same as the next and yet…on closer inspection each giving away specific qualities of the individual who might wear it.
Surely if they were to be a series they’d vary in size and some would show distinct, if slight, physical tweaks (such as when certain school girls hitch up their skirts to a length shorter than the standarad or add a personal appendage to try to demonstrate their rebellion/ personality).
If, however, in the case of the paper garment, the exact details of the individual inhabitants psyche (thoughts/impressions etc) were written/drawn on and over/across the surface of each piece what then would closer inspection reveal the differences to be?
I’d like to link to a particular organisation in order to explore these ideas further.
