Walk in the Wood Dress

This dress form part of a larger project that focused on the experience of walking through the local woodland landscape and responding to the various qualities experiences at different times of the day and seasons. This piece uses made man fibres as well as found objects such as decaying holly leaves, dead spiders and snake skins. The dress is pale, like an echo of life and its construction is akin to life with its built up layers and collaged pieces bringing together what is made and what simply happens.

This is the first piece where I consciously used sewing as both a method of construction but also for a decorative purpose, as in the tradition of quilting. When the outer layer of a quilt is stitched the sewing has a dual purpose that is to simultaneously hold the fabric together at the same time address its aesthetic needs.

Also, to stitch something implies at times to 'repair', rather than make, and this is certainly true of this dress where so many fragile pieces needed to be contained and held together in its fragility. The collaging process is both a creative and a destructive act, as is nature, whilst the stitching becomes the creative human activity which unites the experience and brings the piece into being. This dress also has these delicate shoes with them. To find out more about this work go to the section on projects:

Walk in the Wood.