2023 Grad Show

Luz Arellano

Fibre

My practice is mostly focused on the making of garments with a touch of creativity and motifs that embody cultural connections, personal experiences, identity, and self-expression. An important part of the garment-making process is the representation of emotions and ideas that will be captured on fabric through screen printing, or embroidery. I am interested in creating garments that speak about myself and the way I feel and think, therefore creating intimate bonds with my pieces.
I think of wearable art as the means to promote social change, and to free ourselves from mass-produced clothing that steals our identity, individualism, and our voice.

Cocktail Dress and Jacket

This casual garment is patterned with hand-drawn elements inspired by the architectural early-stage design process. The free-way drawings refer to the brainstorming process and getting into the actual design. Most of these scribbles and early drawings are discarded and considered worthless. Therefore, I wanted to give them a place and value by printing them on the garment that will be kept for many years.

Cocktail Dress and Jacket AUArts Grad Show 1.1
Cocktail Dress and Jacket AUArts Grad Show 3.1
Cocktail Dress and Jacket AUArts Grad Show 5.1
Cocktail Dress and Jacket AUArts Grad Show 7
Cocktail Dress and Jacket AUArts Grad Show 2.1
Cocktail Dress and Jacket AUArts Grad Show 9.1

Huipil

This garment is inspired by the traditional Mexican 'Huipil'. By changing the traditional patterns based on nature for architectural motifs, I'm creating a personal connection with the garment, my background, and my culture. The two-piece dress is of significant importance in Mexican culture, it is believed that it was a gift from the Goddess. It's still important to certain groups nowadays, and it's a marker of age. In some cultures, girls dress differently from young women, and single women dress differently from married women. I made use of remarkable primary and bright colors to keep a reference to the traditional designs.

Huipil AUArts Grad Show 3
Huipil AUArts Grad Show 2
Huipil AUArts Grad Show 1
Huipil AUArts Grad Show 4

Human Vanity Dress

The Human Vanity garment embodies personal opinions against the fashion industry and the use of animal skins in the manufacture of clothes. This wearable piece has the purpose of expressing empathy for the innocent creatures sacrificed to fill human vanity. I have used famous quotes like “Life is a dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures” (Dalai Lama). “Wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must and we will” (Theodore Rosevelt) to create a printing pattern that covers the garment's surface thus, forcing the viewer to focus on the message.

Human Vanity Dress AUArts Grad Show 9
Human Vanity Dress AUArts Grad Show 10

Mother Garment

This garment embodies the life-changing experience of becoming a mother. Flowers, female organs, and baby motifs are printed onto the
garment to depict female agency. The baby’s figure is an analogy of my own story and memory. In a way, this garment materializes a moment in time that changed my perspective on life. The asymmetrical design represents my interest in working with different sewing
patterns made myself. As the last touch, the front panels are intersected each other resembling a mother's hug.

Mother Garment AUArts Grad Show 2
Mother Garment AUArts Grad Show 1
Mother Garment AUArts Grad Show 6

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