Susan Wood

Intangible Spaces

Employing pattern making and garment construction I created nine forms for my installation. The inspiration for my thesis originated from the shapes and colours of fashion designs I had seen at the Vancouver Art Gallery Exhibition, "Fashion Fictions" presented from May 27 to October 9, 2023. I experimented with a variety of fabrics; stitching and painting them as a means of exploring how best to translate the garment designs into my thesis artwork. Through my research, I discovered that fashion designers from Japan intentionally leave space called "Ma" between the body and the garment as a place of energy and spirit. As my work evolved, I observed that translucent fabric provided an opportunity to contemplate the idea of the space within. The forms I created relate to the body, the energy of light and movement and to the spaces that exist within and between them. Viewers are invited to look inside the installed forms and to notice their movement as they walk past them.

“Much of what occurs in life is intangible. It cannot be seen, yet nevertheless we know it exists. My art installation is about human experiences that could be described as emotions, sensations, memories, or beliefs or indefinable moments that occupy space in our lives. Inspiration for this work was derived from concepts that Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo incorporate in their clothing designs. They choose to leave a space referred to as ‘ma’, between the body and the garment as an important place of energy and spirit. The idea of the ‘void’ or the ‘empty’ also holds particular significance in their work.In creating the sewn structures for my installation, I selected a very sheer fabric making it possible to see the space contained within. Focusing on form and space, I chose to refrain from the use of colour effectively allowing the shape to be like a ‘tabula rasa’; an empty place that could be open to interpretation. Qualities inherent in the fabric I used are instrumental in conveying ‘energy’ through the reflected light of the surface and slow spinning movement of the almost weightless forms. I intentionally left the construction of the shapes visible; to be seen simultaneously from the outside and the inside. In between is a space; not visible, but it is there… ”