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CONCHOPHILIA : A mythology of womanhood explored through knitted body sculptures

This thesis proposes the use of seashells and their behaviours to create a methodological framework for designing wearable knitted sculptures for the body. The behaviours of exposure, protection, growth, and constriction are used to map out the cyclic life pattern of the woman's body and explore its growth. This cyclic view of the woman's body is rooted in re-imagined storytelling of classic myths, continuing the traditional practice of retelling stories to fit or change the perception of current social constructions. The mythology of maiden-mother-crone is aligned with seashell growth cycle, creating a conceptual dialogue between the two. This creates a dynamic storytelling within the research which informs the behaviour and look of the individual pieces. The work used a methodology that explored how digital tools can be incorporated into the sketching process. Experiments, digital and physical, were conducted to support and deepen the exploration of the concept regarding seashells growing on human bodies in both the metaphorical and physical sense. The methodology included the notion of Tableau vivant, a tableau-like performance by the model that is captured as a still image to convey the design expression. The collection tells a story where each piece is a point in the lifespan of shells and humans, drawing parallels between the individual growth cycles and establishing meeting points through body characteristics and social symbolism. This makes the textiles not only an extension of the body with transcribed feelings and personalities but also a representation of it. This thesis presents a twofold result, the five-pieced collection of wearable garments and a series of photographed images that contextualize the collections’ interaction with the woman's body.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hb-29979
Date January 2023
CreatorsJerhov, Carolina
PublisherHögskolan i Borås, Akademin för textil, teknik och ekonomi
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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