Textiles have been used as a form of communication ever since their conception. Language and textiles are inherently connected, the word “text” even coming from the Latin texere, meaning to weave. Textiles’ ability to communicate extends to the ones we adorn ourselves with. When transformed into garments, textiles combine their meanings with the visual language of garments, sometimes completely altering the original meaning of the textile.  In making my collection, I thought about conflicts and oppositions; revealing versus concealing, restriction versus freedom, legibility versus obscurity.  Dissonance explores the ability of textiles and clothing to speak, as well as my personal experiences and struggles with communication. 

The collection features a series of wool tartans with encoded messages hidden in the handwoven fabrics. The message coding system is based on Morse code with different colours replacing dots, dashes, and spaces. In each fabric, a phrase repeats and interlaces with itself through the warp and the weft, to create each specific plaid pattern. The garments in my collection are inspired by punk fashion and culture, especially during the beginnings of the subculture. Silhouettes play with ideas like revealing, like with distressed clothing that reveals more of the body than is socially acceptable, and constraint, with the use of bondage straps and chains. The weavings and subsequent garments mirror my experiences with communication. I want to be completely vulnerable and honest as a person but come across constraints of things like social acceptability, fear of how I will be received, and the disappointment that comes with not being understood. My art mirrors my own sense of confusion because not only do I struggle with communication with others, but with myself as well. Through my practice I’m working to find a sense of clarity about myself and the things I make. I want viewers to put in the effort to understand and meet me part way in my efforts to communicate.

Thesis collection created for the 2023 MECA&D Fashion Show