Georgia Lerman
All Dressed Up and No Where to Go, 2021
Sewing pins, cellophane, dress form
62 x 30 x 30 inches
For my CAS studio art project, I wanted to do something involving fashion. I’ve always been super interested in fashion and wanted to incorporate that into my project. When I was younger, I watched Project Runway religiously and always dreamed of being able to make the things the designers were able to make on that show. That being said, I kind of wanted to combine the ideas of fashion and sculpture and make a piece that’s not necessarily wearable.
I decided I was going to get a dress form and tons of different fabrics and materials and go wild. I was always inspired by both the avant garde and unconventional challenges on Project Runway so I decided that’s kind of where I wanted to go with my project. I wanted to play with big shapes and vibrant colors, as well as the juxtaposition of different materials, such as mesh wire, plastic vinyl, cellophane, etc. I’m also interested in the idea of androgyny and the idea that anyone can wear anything.
After completing my project, the things I originally wanted to do, didn’t quite work out exactly how I thought they would. I ended up just using one material. That material was cellophane. I used many different colors of cellophane and figured out a way to fold them up and layer them on my dress form. The cellophane created that sculptural and sharp effect I was going for. Because the material is sheer, it is easy to see the layering that went into the project. Cellophane is also a very accessible material, which appealed to me in the sense that I created something bigger from a somewhat attainable material.
I liked working with the idea of layering the sheer material to make a more solid looking piece with dimension. My idea kind of shifted from making a piece of clothing to making a sculpture. I simply just pinned hundreds of pieces of this cellophane until I got shapes I wanted. Because of the technique of just pinning them onto the mannequin, I’m able to take the piece apart and rearrange it. That aspect of it is super intriguing to me because I made something that is ever changing, just as opinions, trends, the world, and life. Art often gets frozen in time, which is usually a very successful result. But I think there is something very unique and appealing about making a piece that can change over time.
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