There, They Dwell

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There, They Dwell

2019

Materials: Cotton and Polyester (Jacket), Silk (Pants).

Model: Amy Huang (Check out her work here)

Photographer: Gustav Reed (Check out his work here).

There is a place where the sky touches the ocean and the force of that collision envelops the world in endless grey. In this place everything is offered in small moments of clarity, that dissolve like sea-foam the moment they touch you. In this place there is no forwards or backwards, only where you stand with bated breath, listening to the relentless drum of the water on all sides. It is in this place, they dwell.

Exhibited in Land // Fill // Land, RISD Museum, Gelman Gallery, October 17th 2019 - December 1st 2019.

Exhibited in Many Years Later..., the 12th Annual Brown|RISD Dual Degree Exhibition January 22nd, 2020 - February 13th 2020.

During the winter of 2017, I visited the island of Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte’s Island). The island is located off the coast of Vancouver and is home to the Haida people. The Pacific Northwest is a familiar place to me because it is where my father grew up. On the island I experienced the well known landscape in its purest form--enormous towering trees, endless fog, and a roaring ocean. While visiting the beach where the Haida creation story occurs, surrounded by this landscape, I listened to the drum of the ocean against the rocks. There, I finally understood the power of the earth that compels and inspires us to tell stories.

This garment is a response to that sensation.