Watch the Stitching Earthly Scars Fashion Film HERE.
With the internet a constant berating feed of information, facts, and graphics on climate change, we have become deeply desensitized to the troubles of our world. While we know it's an issue, it's hard to find a connection to it. There is one tool that breaks through the noise and motivates us to action: art.
Stitching Earthly Scars seeks to use fashion, one of the biggest contributors to global carbon emissions worldwide, to discuss the United States climate crisis. After driving across the United States in a 1994 RV named Mabel visiting and documenting places affected by climate change, I used my findings to design a 24 look clothing line that could be broken down into 4 mini collections based on the four biomes I traveled through: Waterways, Forest, Grasslands, and Desert. What makes my designs special are the use of my own photographs to create the unique textile designs. These fabrics were printed on organic material using ecofriendly dyeing processes to conserve water. The remaining fabrics used were deadstock fabric sourced in shops around my hometown.
After constructing twelve of my 24 looks, I recruited a team of eleven collaborators to go back out on the road and film a narrative, documentary, avant garde fashion film about climate change. After constructing my fashion looks to fit my model's proportions exactly, we filmed them wearing these conversation pieces in the locations that inspired them. The film follows a protagonist exploring the four biomes my collections are focused on, meeting the embodied nature in each region and learning about the beauty of these places, and also the ways in which mankind has destroyed them.
The film features poetry created by Lydia Prendergast inspired by the film's powerful imagery, spoken out loud by the film's actors. It also features a completely original musical score by Ben Harris. We worked together to use sourced sound from location along with other human and nature sounds to create a unique soundscape to further enrich the story.
This project culminated in a month long exhibition at Distillery Gallery in South Boston, MA, showcasing my photography, sketches, constructed fashion looks, and the film together in a 500 square foot space.
Click a button to learn more about each biome:
The Waterways portion of this project hoped to bring focus to the rising seas, specifically in Louisiana, oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, and trash in our oceans.
In my initial designs, I used photographs of an underwater forest and a flooding meter, both taken on my first trip to Louisiana. I was inspired by the wetlands of this region and how delicate the environment is.
When designing for the film, I asked Elise Piliponis to choreograph a dance piece for her and fellow actor Devon Whitney to perform. Because of this, my initial designs changed and I instead created something that the two could move easily in. I decided to construct matching two piece sets and give them each a layering piece they could wear when they weren't moving (a cape for Devon and pants for Elise).
At the exhibition, I featured the clothing looks alongside a water bottle chandelier installation with stills from the film inside. I welcomed viewers to touch as much as they wanted.
The Forest portion of this project hoped to bring focus to two major issues. First, the major clear cutting of the southeast coast of the US to create wood pellets, a greenwashed "eco-fuel" that actually produces more carbon emissions than coal. Second, the forest fires caused not only by the carelessness of humans, but also by the rising temperatures of climate change.
In the forest section, I found a lot of inspiration for textiles in the photographs I took and created three unique fabrics:
During a visit to Biosphere 2 in Tuscon, Arizona, I saw that the rainforest inside the facility was pressed against the glass and foggy. I decided to create a windowpane design with a triptych of photos for the jumpsuit I designed.
One day I decided to play around with an image of a forest to see if I could create a repeating pattern image I liked. After a few attempts and experimenting with opacity, I was happy with this image and used it for a two piece set
I created this textile with a photo I took of a burnt tree from a forest fire. I had a vision of a green outfit for my collection, so I tinted the image green, which also further emphasized the texture. I like how from far away, this textile can look like a snake print.
The Grasslands portion of this project hoped to bring focus to CAFOs in America and the chemical runoff from farming.
Something I noticed about the grasslands is how big the sky feels in them. So, I wanted to design a look based on this thought using a photo I took of some foliage in New Mexico.
I wanted to infuse the cowboy energy that is present in the grasslands in some way, so I designed a leather vest with windmills on it, since there is a huge portion of the US's windmills in the grasslands. I used this photo, also of some New Mexico folliage, to create a pant print. I love how the simple color pallette allows the textures of the grass to really shine through.
The Desert portion of this project hoped to bring focus to the oil industrial complex and the rising temperatures' impact on the biodiversity and endangered species of the region.
I found the textures of the desert to be so rich and intricate. I wanted the two pieces I constructed to incorporate the same fabric so that they worked well together, so I chose this texture for the textile and used it in different ways for each garment. I also created another fabric using an image I took at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona because I loved the marbled colors and the rich lines the image had.
