Yara Ueltschi
I use the suit as a symbol of power and dominance in both works. Costume emphasises aspects of society and reflects them back at the world. These works focus on the specific elements in society of power, affluence, hierarchy, gender, perception and normativity. One suit rapidly dissolves, revealing a forced vulnerability and innocence that is impossible to achieve once the corruptive nature of power and time take place. The work also alludes to the female body and family ties using red thread that appears as blood. The other suit is made of hundreds of brass discs, each hand embossed, cut, drilled and sewn to the suit. The discs have been embossed with my great grandfather’s wax seal design and form a scaly armour. This asserts the difference of narrative between those who are able to mark and communicate their identity, and those whose identities are subsumed and forgotten. As a person with a neurodiverse identity, I must constantly assert my identity in order not to get lost in the milieu of normative anthropocentric societal pressures and expectations. By inserting myself into these narratives I seek to subvert them and shift perceptions.
I’ll make you see me: I’ll make you innocent & I’ll cover you in the past, 2020
Brass foil, thread, suit jacket and pants, dissolving fabric and buttons