Inspirations for the Garment/ Prothesis project - Valentim Quaresma

      I am soooo excited for the second half of this semester in my Core studio class! We are doing a garment/ prothesis project, and I thought I would share my ideas for the project , as well as one artist who will be / has been a major influence on my work.
       This particular artist's work has spanned several lenses, including sculpture, jewelry, installations and design. Valentim Quaresma "has used experimentation and deconstruction to remove trivial objects from his surroundings, recreating them into works of art," (DirectArts Magazine, ed 01). I love the way that he deconstructs regular, mundane objects and turns them into luxurious items of wearable sculpture.
He combines everyday references with almost antagonistic elements.
An excerpt from an interview Valentim did with DirectArts Magazine (Ed.01) :

 

"Is experimentation crucial for you?

 

Without a doubt. I've tried many different techniques and inspirations, from baroque to tribal, inserting them in different creative processes to see how it would work. I like to turn an ordinary material into something exquisite. At first glance a press-stud seems to only serve the function for which it was created, there's nothing beautiful about it, but by applying them to a piece, I'm creating a beautiful and luxurious dimension, caused by the texture and acheived by the use of reptition of the same element....."

 

 

 

I really am fascinated by his work, and seek to use it as my primary influence during the garmet/ prothesis project. Here are some of his works :

 

 

 

 

 

 

For my project, I think I really want to expand on my newly found joy of welding! I think metal would be the perfect medium for this assignment and I think it would get my concept across well. I would like to make a social commentary with the pieces i construct, aiming at the connection with what is considered feminine with what is beaten into womens' brains from a young age by social media. The idealized female figure has become a large breasted, skinny waisted waif, a far cry from what it was years ago. Girls are "programmed" to believe that they are never pretty enough, never skinny enough. I want to construct devices that depict the destruction of a woman's confidence by all these outside factors- makeup, fashion, the world's view of the female position in life. I want people to be disgusted and made uncomfortable by my pieces, but I also want to take a page from Mr. Quaresma and make them appear luxurious and appealing to the eye.