A Daisy in a Dress
Long exposure. Dress designs and construction by Kirsten Schmid.
The long exposure photographs are a bit dreadful, grainy, and mysterious. What I love about Kirsten’s use of materials is that they are transparent with beautiful pops of embroidery. The embroidery picks up the light of the long exposure leaving these stamped impressions of 2 of me and multiples of the dress where the pronounced features are the hems of the sleeves, neckline, and embroidered Daisies. The floral pattern is pleasant in contrast to the ghostly effect caught by the camera where the garment overlaps my face in serendipitous ways. Several dualities present themselves and remind me to feel great joy in embodying two different ideas at once. To see the distinct definition of light there must be dark, to see what is revealed you must first know what was hidden.
Line Dry
Self portrait movement series. Designs, construction, and materials by Kirsten Schmid
The next series of photographs is using the same daisy dress and new material that Kirsten is in progress of creating. This new cloth is a stitched together collection of old handkerchiefs with beautiful one of a kind hand and machine embroidered floral patterns. I wanted to use the newly made fabric of old materials in the photograph to help show the exuberance and joy in the motion of the photo shoot and additionally use it for its pop of bold colors and miniature details. In contrast my stone faced expression is reminiscent of photographs of a more quaint time where capturing a likeness was rare and the still featured prized possessions. Each Handkerchief stitched together suggests a story of its once-upon-a-time owner. I can’t help but feel the potential motion in holding on to a freshly dried table cloth or piece of fabric that needs to be spread onto a bare tabletop.
Daisy Movement Study
Studio performance, Video and Editing, Designs, Construction and Materials by Kirsten Schmid, Music by 2REES
Kirsten and Christal are working toward a 2021 collaboration using Kirsten’s designs to inspire movement on the live stage. Spinning has always been very present in my work and and came natural with an object that caught the air so easily. Perhaps my movement is calling to the notion of a little girl spinning in a white floral dress. I encouraged this child like meditative act. Like the patches of fabric that start as abstract pieces and get stitched together, I was inspired to stitch the video together with many layers of footage. It is important to me that I am never really seen completely in the video while the garment I am animating is quite transparent if not layered with other items underneath. Being seen and unseen are also themes in my work.
Christal Wagner 