surrogate body

surrogate body

I use standard garment block pattern shapes as a jumping off point. Although these shapes are used to create basic garments, they are not a direct facsimile of the body. They have their own formal reality: of lines, curves, darts, seam lines, etc. Each line has a purpose that sits in relationship to the human body, the slope of the shoulder or the curve of the waist and hip. These forms create a structural system that maps out the body whilst being utterly distinct from it: one could say that this system creates a shadow / surrogate body, or scaffold. By using ceramics, the clay bodies are reduced in size in the kiln – the transformation away from the body is irreversible: they are no longer wearable and can only be seen as sculptures.

Pictures by Anja Schori & Pauline Barbas

Image - Gypsum coat, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, 2017

Gypsum coat, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, 2017

Image - Body electric, 35 × 29 × 65 cm

Body electric, 35 × 29 × 65 cm

Image - Ceramics, 31 × 150 × 155 cm

Ceramics, 31 × 150 × 155 cm

Image - Foam & unfired clay

Foam & unfired clay

Image - No title, Ceramics, 130 × 82 × 53 cm

No title, Ceramics, 130 × 82 × 53 cm

surrogate body

Image - Parrures, plaster, 75 × 56 × 78 cm

Parrures, plaster, 75 × 56 × 78 cm

Image

Outlines in space is dealing with the relationship between three-dimensional garment and the two-dimensional drawing. I am giving the skeleton of the drawing new existence, new form and shapes that can be associated with different parts of the garment.

Image - Outlines in space, Ceramics, 73 × 22 × 116 cm

Outlines in space, Ceramics, 73 × 22 × 116 cm

Image - Ceramics, brass, 39 × 21 × 3 cm

Ceramics, brass, 39 × 21 × 3 cm