This gown visually conceptualizes the 2018 California wildfire season, at that time, the deadliest and most destructive on record as of this writing. A total of 8,527 fires burned an area of 1,975,086 acres, the largest area of burned land recorded in any one fire season. There were 103 confirmed fatalities, 24,226 structures damaged or destroyed and the state lost 2% of its total landscape.
The base garment was a discarded choir robe (or perhaps an angel costume?) I hand painted the skirt to look like ghostly trees then added overlays of sheer textiles representing the fragility of nature. More sheers at the hemline are to replicate the essence of fire…chaotic, layered, and unpredictable. The bodice is comprised of over 2,000 hand-cut “leaves”, each one individually charred or burned They are made from cartons, wrappers, packaging, textiles, photos, greeting cards and so on, representing things in of our lives that are lost to fire. Sometimes a “leaf” will fall off and float away, another lost soul returning to nature.