Hidden messages and revealing stories

Abstract

In this article I explore my creative textile practice as an auto/ethnographical investigation into my work. I examine how my work methodologies have altered over the past few years as a result of research through practice and as I have attempted to hide, yet reveal stories through my pieces. I note how my work has become more concerned with finding ways to express my own personal story visually through the medium of second-hand garments, in particular dresses. I show how, as I attempt to illustrate narratives through my work, each dress also reveals a story of its own through its deconstruction or embellishment within the piece; the wear and tear of the dress hinting at its past lives and stories. In turn this multilayered medium allows me to hide my own stories in plain sight and also allows viewers of the pieces to draw their own narratives from the whole.