Edinburgh College of Art
Specialisms: Womenswear / Sustainable Fashion/Textiles / Textiles for Fashion
Location: Liverpool, United Kingdom
First Name: Qiao-Ying
Last Name: Chen
Specialisms: Womenswear / Sustainable Fashion/Textiles / Textiles for Fashion
Sectors:
My Location: Liverpool, United Kingdom
University / College: Edinburgh College of Art
Course / Program Title: Fashion BA Hons
My design practice focuses on the creation of concept-led experimental designs. Drawing on personal narratives, my work is informed by my identity, which guides a flexible and intuitive approach to materials and techniques. My practice prioritises irregularity, texture and layered construction, exploring the relationship between garment and accessory. I am particularly interested in fashion as a wearable art form and strive to balance expressive design and wearability within the core of my design identity.
This project reflects on navigating my cultural identity through a diasporic lens, examining the relationship between presence and absence and how the remnants of a form can become the form itself. The concept draws from the Greek mythological figure, Tantalus, paralleling his physical strain with visual portrayals of rural agricultural practice to represent a cycle of labour and desire through the act of cultivation.