the PROCESS
at the beginning of this project i was looking into the way in which queer people would signal their queerness too eachother in safe ways to try and see if it was safe.
examples of this are the hanky code, wearing flowers in your lepel or little phrases like “are you a friend of dorothys” and many more ways in which one could signal.
at first my aim was very much to make a universal signal that could fly under the radar for some and be seen by others. i soon realised that making a universal mark was me trying to create a solution for something that was so much more than me. I then went back to the start to see what queerness and signalling actually meant to ME, and thats where this project was born.
compiling all the artifacts of litterature, art, design, and memorabilia that (has) shapes you are. from early memories that challenged your thinking to that one back that got you completely into fashion. as humans we are influenced by our experiences, that in doing so shape our identity.
using a substance called cyanotype i took all my artifacts and printed them onto a piece of natural cotton using sunlight. I chose process because some of the artifacts will then print super vividly where otherswill be more vage, just like memories.
the choice using the classic style of a tote bag was due to its newfound populairity amongst the gay community as being part of “the gay starter pack”
the QUEER SIGNAL tote is therefore a wearable signal of your own identity with not one being the same.
skills used for this project :
- research
- collecting artifacts
- construction of bags
-pattern making
- sewing on industrial machines
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