Dressing for Structure (2022)
Dressing for Structure challenges political and corporate frameworks that appropriate feminism while continuing to perpetuate inequality. It considers how individuals navigate these political landscapes through performance and dress, and how such negotiations can undermine intersectional aims, contributing to the mistreatment of underserved communities. Drawing on contemporary corporate workwear and modernist furniture associated with the early second wave feminist period, the work examines the commodification of feminism for political and corporate gain, and the role of power dressing within these dynamics. Exploring the discourse of the intersectionality of the feminist movement past and present.
Across heat-formed plastics, stiletto interventions, CNC-laminated plywood sculpture, performance, drawing, collage, and reworked found furniture, garments and structures are brought into contact. Materials are sculpted, stretched, and worn – forming structures the body moves within and against.
Emily Tonge 