Portfolio for my "Textile Future Scenarios II" application
Artwork #1
"The beauty of the Grotesque"
A journey of my self-acceptance through imagery that creates discomfort for most and has the opposite effect on me.
Growing up, undiagnosed, was extremely difficult, because I couldn't fit in and was the weird kid. I was always fascinated by morbidness, grotesque imagery, and instead of fairy tales i relied on horror stories and movies to fall asleep to.
It took me to finally be diagnosed, after almost 20 years of my existence and acceptance that it was okay to like stuff like this and that I shouldn't rely on other people's judgment to exist.
The visual book:
And the dress shirt I picked to make:
All materials were either trifted or found in a basement. Different fabrics were layered, and the main, cut-out cotton parts for wings were soaked in watered-down glue and acrylic paint, giving them a wet look.
Artwork #2
"Medusa the myth"
A dress made out of old curtains, soaked in watered-down glue, and loosely held up by stones and acrylic paint.
One of my projects was about researching queer, feminist history and symbolism used to express who they were and what they went through anonymously.
One of the symbols I picked was the Medusa tattoo. People who experienced Sexual abuse and survived it often choose to commemorate their strength by getting a tattoo of the Medusa myth.
Usually in fiction, Medusa is depicted as a monster instead of a victim of SA who was given a gift to protect herself from men who wanted to hurt her.
I had one wish while making this dress:
To look her in the eyes, give her the biggest hug, and tell her that she is beautiful, even if that would result in me being turned into a stone.
Artwork #3
"Crimson in death"
Blood, sweat, and tears went into this project. Over 50 hours of cutting, ripping, glueing, and layering.
How could I possibly express the feeling that fills me from inside whenever I get to talk about death.
Even in violent departure, there is peace. Eternal rest, waiting for you any minute.
While other people avoid the topic, I sit in it. The same way I sat for a month, looking at death right in the face. Kneeling, hunched over, every single piece of fabric placed individually.
I took something "ugly" and "gross" and expressed it with beautiful, textured material and beads.
Artwork #4
"Body to body - Pig to human"
Current project I am working on.
It's a cultural study about how humans have become apathetic and desensitised to the way they consume meat.
I use such artists as Terike Haapoja for inspiration, the book "Tender is the Flesh", and my own research on Lithuanian meat consumption, advertisements, kitch, and accessibility.
I am weaving visuals of pigs, specifically, as I have a strong connection to that animal since I was a small child, and it's the only meat I don't eat.
On top of that, I force myself to touch the dead animal parts, use pig's blood to dye threads, and use intestines, to prove a point that if you actually had to kill a pig to eat it, most people would become vegetarians or vegans.
