Autumn woman: Winter is coming, is part of a body of work that aims at unsettling contemporary western ideas and associated behaviors which gather around the female ageing body. A socio/cultural lens through which women of a certain age are unseen—invisible, no longer considered useful or desirable. This discarded repurposed white frock portrays my concerns around ageing and being on the threshold of winter: of remaining twilight time and imminent prospect of death. My stitches suggest the final blaze of colour as grey shadows begin to appear for the final journey into winter. Autumn woman is a celebration of a life lived—the journey of soul as contradictory forces come together: joy and sSorrow; full and empty; being and non-being; the luxuriant and the ordinary.

The rationale for using my discarded white frocks as a starting point for both Autumn Woman and Real bodies have their lives stitched into them: Burial frock, is because these garments convey a sense of personal history. A life long history of wearing white. In addition, there lies strong social and cultural impressions of what white symbolizes. Although one tends to think of white in a pragmatic sense as expressions of pureness, innocence and virtue, there is also a pessimistic view as a way of putting on a face, an appearance that is only skin deep. From this perspective my white frock works symbolize a pathway into the unknown. With improvisational embroidery I am exploring what lies below the surface of appearances to uncover unknown layers of self as well as untangling the mysteries of the making process. For Winter is coming I adopted a free style collage principle tacking to the frock’s bodice pieces of mulberry bark and embroidering scraps of organza, organdie and scrim. Stitching into the fabricated bodice on both a physical and emotional level had the feeling of embroidering into real fresh. The concept behind Autumn woman is informed by the following poem.

On wearing white frocks in the Autumn

sheltered by the delicate dressings of my white frocks I embrace my sexagenarian spirit formless monochromatic creations sewn by my hand fashioned remnants of colonialism inherited legacies and the cutting board of shape making leftovers that mark my tragedy my generation and sexuality and age as Autumn woman a legion of white on white dresses that traverse emotional landscapes of watershed moments frocks that represent my intellect conveying an unspoken understanding that the journey into the season of my knowing brings clarity and departure of what has gone before

2019