About

References

At the beginning I was pulling from my own imagery of my experiences within the fetish community in Vancouver. I defined three aspects of fetish: body, material and environment. Bodies in the queer community, the materials adorned, and sexually charged spaces.

I also referenced artists like Felix Gonzalez Torres. I’d always respected how he referenced his community through his work. Felix’ way of breaking apart the norms of two cultures to create something new was influential to me.

The most impactful area of inspiration came from a conversation with Debbie Griffin. I participated in the IFF competition in my first semester and through, head of the course, Susan Irvine, I met with Debbie Griffin. Debbie was considered the first rubber supermodel. She has a large influence in early 90s kink culture.

Materiality

Midway through my first semester I made the decision to focus on only one material. I wanted to immerse myself within the making and construction of latex. Working closely with Kelly Duncan, I created my first latex object. My latex construction journey didn’t begin with clothes; I constructed a 2 meter tall baby blue rubber box.

My rubber box was also a part of my IFF Rubout application. I wanted to create an accessible environment of latex: A space dedicated to the smells sounds and textures of rubber. The box featured rubber underwear and objects hanging from the ceiling. The object were latex fringe strips fashioned around metal cock rings.

Controlled Damage

I started to damage the latex material by cutting into it in a controlled manner. I wanted to add texture and make the body more visible through this cutting. During this time I was reading Celia Pym’s “On Mending: Stories of damage and repair” I discovered that when damage is created and controlled, there’s an opportunity to refine the material.

The way that I control the damage of my material was using the Zund digital cutting machine. This machine is similar to a laser cutter, but instead of a laser it is attached to a very small, sharp rotary cutter. Throughout my second and third semester I experimented cutting latex with the a very talented technician Annie Richardson. Through several appointments with Annie, we learned what the machine needed to cut successfully. I developed two types of cuts. Circle cut as well as a fringe cut.

Fittings

Sketching and drawing didn’t really come in to play when working with latex. Because I was trying to understand how I could manipulate the material, I relied heavily on fittings. Through fittings I met the lovey Vicky: one of the fit models for our department. Rubber is a very intimate material and Vicky was so trusting and enthusiastic. She also understood the power and the energy that I was trying to capture within my pieces.

The basis of all my designs began with developing a supportive leotard, so the garment would have structure. Once I had the structural integrity of the garment, I could then place my cut materials on top and they wouldn’t be falling or stretching the latex.

Through developing several different samples, I knew I wanted to create two evening wear looks for my final presentation. One in red showcasing the cut fringe technique and one in blue showcasing the circle cut technique.

Collaboration

The culmination of the final expo was a sum of parts throughout my experience in London. From my work done at the RCA. IFF’s latex exploration. Figuring out new tools like the Zune machine with Annie Richardson. To the people I met through the school like Debbie Griffin the rubber icon, working with Vicki our fit model. And the technicians like Kelly Duncan guiding me. As well as my life outside of the RCA – Having people over with my boyfriend Ted and meeting new people – Adja Thomas-Mbaye being one of them.

Adja is an opera singer at the Royal College of Music. She came as a plus one to a Christmas party I was throwing. And in the festive spirit, she offered to sing for all of us. My tiny apartment was filled with so much power and sound. It was truly inspiring. It was in discussions with Adja about her work that we saw parallels in the juxtapositional nature of each of our practices. Me trying to represent a new light on latex, and her trying to give Opera a new more accessible environment.

We collaborated together for the final show trying to represent the glamour of latex and an new environment for Opera. We worked with Vicky and a pianist George to complete the ensemble. Vicki illustrating the damage to the pieces with latex pedals fluttering to the ground as she walked, and George accompanying Adja in the musical performance.

The final piece was just as much about the connections I made along the way as much as the finished garments in the show. It was a reflection of my experience at the RCA and in London over the past year.

Future

I believe the most impactful part of my work was through the collaborations with others. I’ve always wanted to be a part of a strong team working towards a goal. I think I will try and search out for that atmosphere within my future work.

looking back at my collaboration with Adja I’m really proud. Our goal from the beginning was. Rethinking about the way we see latex, where we listen to opera and who has access to it. I also see us continuing through other projects that bring our two worlds together. The clothes I make want to be part of something bigger than just themselves. In the future I want to keep pushing myself to work in this collaborative way.

 

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