ILLUMINATURE

Art2Wear is an entirely student-led wearable art production show hosted by the College of Design's Media Arts, Design, and Technology department, showcasing the work of young designers from all across the university. This last semester I was selected with my design partner Gabriela Hernandez Vargas to participate with our collection ILLUMINATURE.

Our concept statement:
Nature and technology are always changing and evolving alongside us, however, nature is often considered the antithesis of technology. Through our collection we challenged this contradiction by merging the two together into personifications of each of the natural elements. Throughout our performance you will see Day (Keya Shanbhag), Life (Gabrielle Fjellman), Water (Lina Pettaris), Weather (Natalie Yeung), Air (Sarah Annibale), Fire (Raisa Hernandez Vargas), and Night (Gloria Chien) symbolized through wearable art.

For us, the theme dimensions is about understanding the multifaceted aspects of our elements. Typically, when asked to imagine what the natural elements look like, people picture them in the daylight. By deciding to show them in the dark as well, we created a more complete image of them, showing a side that is often overlooked. Throughout our performance you will see how each character's appearance changes in the dark, with the use of illuminating technology. Although there is a transformation of light and dark, the characters preserve their motions and themes, showing how they adapt to their environments. We hope our collection allows you to reflect on your own connection to nature and leaves you inspired by the beauty of ILLUMINATURE.