‘Ik pas in de binnenkant van mijn jas’
In my work, I examine the role food plays in fashion, and particularly the tension that exists between the two. I explore the vulnerability, the shame, the hiddenness and the security that clothing itself provides.
Fashion is (in the image of the eating disorder) as much a mutilation as an enrichment of the body, but this is little talked about. In fashion, you are almost buried with images of beautiful people. It is not surprising that this gives you a distorted view. It isn't realistic.
For my graduation project, I explored whether you can literally translate food into wearable objects you can hold. Through fruit, like the bright red strawberry that stands for cute and juicy but also contains colour of aggression and anger. By dismantling and scaling up the strawberry, I wanted to make it tangible. Let you enjoy it again. This includes soft and hard materials, calm and bright colours, clear and organic shapes. I make use of different techniques to recreate the strawberry in the way you want to grab it and slowly disappear into it. So that you can love it again. Start loving yourself again.
When you start loving yourself, you can more easily open the conversation – about the vulnerability you carry, the shame, the anger, the sadness, the discomfort, the uncomfortable. Can we engage in conversation to make the uncomfortable comfortable again?
Photo: Sanne Peper