All dolled up and no place to go

Date
2007-12-11
Authors
Trussardi, Gabriella
Supervisor
Joseph, Frances
Ings, Welby
Item type
Thesis
Degree name
Master of Arts in Art and Design
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Auckland University of Technology
Abstract

This body of work is the result of practice based research, culminating in a collection of five garments featuring pictorial prints, created through digital sublimation printing¹. The accompanying exegesis examines the place of my work within the contextual framework of related knowledge. The exegesis explores two main contextual notions. Firstly, the position of dolls' clothing play as a hegemonic tool in the process of learning to construct identity through self-presentation. This reflects on the practice of enculturing in girls the ability not just to do, but to observe oneself whilst doing. Secondly, the role of garments and fabric as liminal² markers at the transitional space between interior and exterior, domestic and public, self and not-self. My analysis is centered on the creation of original pieces of clothing. The garments are questioned by the issues explored in this exegesis. The research makes an original contribution to the body of knowledge by the nature of the creative work, and its analysis involving contemporary theoretical debate on the nature of fashion. ¹ Sublimation printing is a method of chemically bonding ink to a polyester or acrylic surface such as fabric, using extremely high heat and pressure. In this research project I am bonding images of photographs to polyester and acrylic fabrics. ² In this exegesis I use the word liminal to describe an occupying of an ambiguous space, on the threshold between one thing and another.

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Keywords
Dolls , Buttons , Fashion , Sublimation , Cultural identity
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