These pieces of art i came across in Contemporary Textiles looking for ideas and inspiration. Once the homeless project is finished i shall be focusing on my next investigation. It has already started with photographing the garments which Charlotte's mother Sarah sent me. I want this project to be an exploration with how to deal with loss but also a celebration of Charlotte and the precious memories hold of her.
Janet Cooper's dresses are wonderful, i love the way she uses embroidery and reuses already existing garments to convert them to talismans of memory. They are akin to shrines almost of the people who used to own them but transformed with her theme of memories which she has chosen to explore.
The dress i find a remarkable piece, i love that they are also sculptures in their own right, this also inspires me as Charlotte did her BA in Sculpture. The other two pieces also fascinate me, the raw energy they hold and how you can convey the human form onto garments i find an interesting idea and relates heavily to the surgeries and hospital garments Charlotte had to endure. Charlotte was a very attractive young lady too and she had a great taste in clothing and shared the same passion for 50's underwear as myself which is why i find the third piece quite mesmerising. They are rather personal pieces and i find them to be quite honest, it is almost inviting the viewer to see intimacy of ones own body. It reminds me of a lot of charlottes work in exploring her traumatic experiences.
The below passage is about her final degree show piece which i have included in the images on this blog:
"This is one of two photographs of myself that I had commissioned, and had it taken when I was staying in hospital. It is the first time I have had someone who isn’t myself or someone very close to me, or familiar with my situation, to be involved in my work. By taking poses from traditional, and well know representations of beauty, and of the ideal female form, I wanted to present the issues of patient objectification, and the difficulties created by this common but accepted occurrence; particularly for a young female patient. Sickness and hospitalization in some respects de-sexes and de-sexualizes, having to ‘perform’ for your physicians daily, most of whom are unknown to you and whose presence is left unexplained. This appears to be an implicit agreement as soon as one is sick, and is one that is rarely questioned. The fact that it is an ‘outsider’ who has taken the photograph, puts the photographer and the viewer in the place of beholder, and thus the doctor or surgeon, attempting to allude to the role of the ‘sitter’ that the patient inevitably and unconsciously takes in the doctor-patient relationship. The aim of the photograph, and the obvious references within it, is to raise and consequently question this dynamic."
Below is the website where you can find her inspiring work:
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/ns/artworkDetails/Charlotte+Horrillo/14736
I hold so many memories and factors which remind me of Charlotte that i feel this project will help me and honour the transfixing human being that she was. I have a fascination for historical costume so when Sarah sent me these wonderful pieces that used to belong to Charlotte i was overwhelmed.
