DOI

https://doi.org/10.25772/WAHW-BN05

Defense Date

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts

Department

Painting and Printmaking

First Advisor

Hilary Wilder

Second Advisor

Caitlin Cherry

Third Advisor

Hope Ginsburg

Fourth Advisor

Susie Ganch

Fifth Advisor

Gregory Volk

Abstract

In 2020 flamboyant fashion is associated with queer performativity. Psychologist Alan Downs and queer theorist madison moore understand this to be a response to a culture that is hostile to sexual behaviour and gender expression that falls outside a rigid binary. I study the history of flamboyant aesthetics and camp sensibilities from an intersectional perspective, and locate designers and artists who have produced clothes in ways that materialize the political implications of fashion. As a studio-based artist, I employ traditional sewing techniques, digital technologies, and performance to create clothes and new media works that demonstrate a circular understanding of time, and highlight the role of the artist as both creator and creation. I complicate a capitalist notion of progress with one-of-a-kind costumes, and reuse and transform textiles to develop a rhetorical strategy of self-expression that fosters sustainable community.

Rights

© The Author

Is Part Of

VCU University Archives

Is Part Of

VCU Theses and Dissertations

Date of Submission

5-5-2020

Share

COinS