GUARDIAN ANGELS
An Exploration of Silhouette
January 2024
Comfort Station in Logan Square, Chicago, IL
Guardian Angels are heavy duty experimental garments made for a purpose imposed by the wearer. Stepping away from the Western tradition of sculpted clothing, these garments are made without 3D form. However, these garments can be twisted, gathered, and stretched to fit the user or situation. Within my practice, Guardian Angels have been used as garment, shelter, rain catcher, or wind breaker.
Back Home…
The idea began when I was given the task to dress the hickory trees back home in Western, KY. To do so I had to abandon the rules of draping I had taught myself and learned from generous teachers. I can not use muslin and pins to dress a tree. I had to scale up. My solution was found polyethylene tarps, cotton rope, clever folding and gathering.
These forms started on trees, but very quickly moved to the body. The process now is in between the body and whatever I can hang my Guardian Angels on.
BLOWN OPEN
BLOWN OPEN began as a wearable giving it a distinctly human shape. As the wind activates the work, the representation of the body stretches to grotesque inhuman proportions.
MHFSUY
MHFSUY stands for something I understand and for you to speculate. This stretched tarp falls into a perforated diamond but as it is activated by the wind, an uninviting face emerges; almost resembling a skull or a demon.
SPACESHIP
The largest and most imposing of the Guardian Angels so far. I found this tarp in the old barn across the lake. It had been there for years, maybe decades. Something had made it into a home when I found it. I cleaned it up and have brought it up to Chicago.
HAMMOCK
I never tried it out, but it is very inviting.
