Strength is the running theme of the many lives that made my history.
Thinking about what strength means to me and it conjures up images of my mother, and her mother before her. The true measure of their strength is in the resilience they had following adversity.
Undoubtedly their stories, while unique in their details, are just other testimonies of the strength of women through generations, times and places.
I recognise my own, and build resilience as they have, only a a little less, as their legacy has held me in a far more cushioned world, although, only relative to their time and mine.
I knew I wanted to work around the pillar of strength but found the representation of this quite challenging as there was so much to communicate. Stripping it all back from my memories and feelings, I was not eloquent enough with words. I chose imagery, even though this is only an initial exploration, very young and still to develop.
Strength of materials
I made the connections, maybe obvious, to certain materials that conjured up the idea of strength. Materials we may want to explore in the piece, concrete, metal, silk and the pliability of wood. Exploring their relationships and the context in which they may break might help progress this along to a different path.
Resilience in Nature- Test of Time
Examples of resilience are everywhere in nature and whilst this not a new concept in anyway , starting there coupled with an explorations of materials for a potential piece of clothing, theatrical garment, also brings me to the sustainable aspect of fashion. How does nature regrows sometimes form nothing or from extremely harsh conditions, regenerating when not expected to, beating the odds of climate and human legacy.
Generative images and Sound
This is the key interest for me that a piece should generate more from its state. Still not quite formed as an idea in relation to this garment, but looking for the potential in how materials connect through movement, touch and other possible interactions.