Hegira: A SHIFT dress

 
Hegira

This is the sisterdress to Migration.  I wanted to take the wishbone sculptural elements and use them in larger, more transparent forms.  An individual path compared to that of the many in Migration.

  Hegira was a watery dress from the very beginning. The large sheer panel in the middle of the dress, both front and back, illustrates a journey, broken at times, and coming from or starting with a fork or confluence…Rivers with portages, canals with locks, seas with storms…this was created with layers of silk gauze, with resists to prevent the one superfine merino wool layer from obscuring the path.  This dress is lighter than light.

 

  Different materials mirror the motif; resists, 3-D sculptural elements and silk organza.  The journey can look different but we can arrive in the same place….some are more obvious than others…The forms are like tracks…not continuous…they would take great observation and patience to find and follow.

  This dress was dyed on a full moon dyeing day this summer, which makes it feel just right to tell it’s story on another full moon indigo dyeing day today. It is always a wonder-filled to experience to pull the textiles from the indigo vats…

  Hegira had many dips into the indigo vat….developing an intense deep blue…
I added pathways of stitches…but I think there are still more to come ….

  This dress looked wonderful exhibited as a scuplture, but it’s story feels even more complete when shown worn on our beautiful island….reflecting the journey by water we all take to get here…

  How can I resist adding more pictures…so beautiful….shades of indigo captured by Amy Melious…(and the model’s name is Indigo also)…created and engaged with water…and the moon and some ocean stars….

  Hegira….the lightest definition of this word sums up this process…a journey to a more congenial place….
Warm wishes, 
Fiona