The Dress Guardians
The Guardian Dresses stand as the representation - or rather - the embodiment of the habitat or location they carry on the fabric of their dress. The Dresses meet viewers body to body – as if the spirit of the location had taken human form. They are posing a question, inviting a response, asking the viewers to step into conversation with them. Increasingly as a human on our shared planet I have been struggling with what I can do to make a difference and have begun to wonder if art is the way to go beyond barriers to reach new audiences and effect change.
My early dress stories all relied on using existing garments which I then manipulated and embellished. These dresses share a physical structure which helps bind them together – the Peplos-style garment which was probably used by many cultures over many centuries. Think Roman or Greek togas, medieval outfits. A peplos garment is created simply from a flat piece of fabric pinned at the shoulders and gathered by a belt at the waist: one size fits all. The beauty of the style is that no cutting or sewing is required, thereby preserving what would have been a precious and expensive item; woven fabric was time consuming and labour intensive to make until relatively recently, so once a family owned such a garment, it was used over and over again. This garment style allowed me to work on large pieces of fabric (old double sheets, in fact!) and create a series of stand alone pieces which are also visually and thematically connected.
The Guardian Dresses stand as the representation - or rather - the embodiment of the habitat or location they carry on the fabric of their dress. The Dresses meet viewers body to body – as if the spirit of the location had taken human form. They are posing a question, inviting a response, asking the viewers to step into conversation with them. Increasingly as a human on our shared planet I have been struggling with what I can do to make a difference and have begun to wonder if art is the way to go beyond barriers to reach new audiences and effect change.
My early dress stories all relied on using existing garments which I then manipulated and embellished. These dresses share a physical structure which helps bind them together – the Peplos-style garment which was probably used by many cultures over many centuries. Think Roman or Greek togas, medieval outfits. A peplos garment is created simply from a flat piece of fabric pinned at the shoulders and gathered by a belt at the waist: one size fits all. The beauty of the style is that no cutting or sewing is required, thereby preserving what would have been a precious and expensive item; woven fabric was time consuming and labour intensive to make until relatively recently, so once a family owned such a garment, it was used over and over again. This garment style allowed me to work on large pieces of fabric (old double sheets, in fact!) and create a series of stand alone pieces which are also visually and thematically connected.
The Chalk Stream Guardian Dress
On returning to the landscape of my childhood in 2023, I was stunned to discover that I had grown up beside a rare chalk stream. Inspired by the fragility of the river, I conceived a second Guardian dress project to represent that precious habitat. This stitched dress stands for the spirit – the very essence - of the river.
I wanted to commit myself to just stitching, so beginning from the hem of the dress, I’m stitching up through geological time and strata, to river substrate, structure and character, then adding the many plant and animal species indicative of a chalk-fed river using their latin and common names. The Guardian gives a voice to others who are – like I was - unaware of this unique habitat running right through the heart of Dover. So, this dress travels, inviting people to enter a conversation with her: to reach inside themselves for what the river means to them. The words are added to panels of fabric which flow at her feet. Like tiny prayers to the Chalk Stream Guardian.
On returning to the landscape of my childhood in 2023, I was stunned to discover that I had grown up beside a rare chalk stream. Inspired by the fragility of the river, I conceived a second Guardian dress project to represent that precious habitat. This stitched dress stands for the spirit – the very essence - of the river.
I wanted to commit myself to just stitching, so beginning from the hem of the dress, I’m stitching up through geological time and strata, to river substrate, structure and character, then adding the many plant and animal species indicative of a chalk-fed river using their latin and common names. The Guardian gives a voice to others who are – like I was - unaware of this unique habitat running right through the heart of Dover. So, this dress travels, inviting people to enter a conversation with her: to reach inside themselves for what the river means to them. The words are added to panels of fabric which flow at her feet. Like tiny prayers to the Chalk Stream Guardian.
The Ladywell Guardian Dress
Inspired by a street in Dover ‘Ladywell’, likely named for a well spring long since built over by The Maison Dieu. she is the Guardian who has stood watch over the waters for all time. I wanted to find a way to describe the epic length of time the waters have flowed on the site of the Maison Dieu, and how short a time after humans came to reside here that the waters became polluted. The dress contains names of geological ages - Eon, Era, System (Period) and Series (Epoch) - represented in appliqué, print & stitch from oldest/ deepest at her hem, to youngest/ shallowest at her yoke. Other touches point to Extinction events, and the most recent ‘Human Age’ or ‘Anthropocene’ poses a question about our influence on natural systems.
This Guardian Dress project is the result of a call to participate in the first Dover History at Night event in 2024. You can read more at the Maison Dieu website here.
Inspired by a street in Dover ‘Ladywell’, likely named for a well spring long since built over by The Maison Dieu. she is the Guardian who has stood watch over the waters for all time. I wanted to find a way to describe the epic length of time the waters have flowed on the site of the Maison Dieu, and how short a time after humans came to reside here that the waters became polluted. The dress contains names of geological ages - Eon, Era, System (Period) and Series (Epoch) - represented in appliqué, print & stitch from oldest/ deepest at her hem, to youngest/ shallowest at her yoke. Other touches point to Extinction events, and the most recent ‘Human Age’ or ‘Anthropocene’ poses a question about our influence on natural systems.
This Guardian Dress project is the result of a call to participate in the first Dover History at Night event in 2024. You can read more at the Maison Dieu website here.
