For those who aren't as privy to the lyrics of every Sound of Music song on the soundtrack, those are the first lyrics to Do-Re-Mi. I was named after the Maria in the Sound of Music and have always identified with the character. She follows her heart, cares deeply for those close to her, and sings her little heart out. While I only do the latter in the car, I feel that I share those core characteristics with Maria Von Trapp. I should probably explain why I'm going on about where my name comes from before y'all click away thinking this is irrelevant. My senior collection's theme is Self Portraiture. I want my collection to represent a timestamp of where I am at this point of my life in the grand scheme of things, in addition to what I'm interested in at this time of my life. At the very beginning of coming up with my concept, I realized that I was putting too much pressure on myself to make this collection the end-all-be-all of who I am as a designer. That just isn't realistic! I have changed so much in the last three years at Kendall, and I will continue to change after my time at Kendall. So instead of putting the impossible task of defining who I am and forever will be as a designer on my plate, I decided to narrow it down to who I think I am right now.
I journaled for a few weeks in the summer to better understand and define who I am right now, and this was the conclusion I came to. This time in my life is defined by the word transition. I am transitioning into adulthood, the real world, really being on my own. After this semester I have to figure a lot of things out. This probably isn't new news to anyone reading this, but time seems to pass much faster the older you get. I have come to realize and accept that each week passes as though it was just 24 hours, each month passes as though it was just a week, and so on and so forth. This time of transition will probably go by in a flash, before I know it I'll (hopefully) be set up with a job, nicer car, and a bigger apartment. So how do I take all of this and turn it into a garment? This part of the design process is where I tend to spend the most time.
In my head, this is how it goes: idea ---> relating the idea to a physical object or thing ---> taking elements of that physical thing and incorporating it into the aesthetic elements of a garment.
The first thing that I think of when I think of transitioning and the passage of time is a sunrise and sunset. Each time the sun sets that is the end of a day, and this may come as a surprise to some, but at the start of each day, no matter what, the sun rises every morning. Sunrises and sunsets are the physical representations of the passage of time. I wanted to take a gradient of colors you can see in a sunset and use that as my color palette. I chose to use white, taupe, pink, and a bright red. Sunsets can range in their intensity of color, which is why I wanted to use soft, neutral tones and include one very intense red.
The entire idea of "self portraiture" originated from a trip I took this summer to Europe with my parents. My mom is a minister and this summer was her sabbatical that comes every 5 years. She applied for a grant from the Lilly Foundation, which has grants available to clergy members that allow them to take a break and explore other areas of their lives to enrich their ministry. My mom had always dreamt of doing a "roots" tour, where she would explore our family's genealogical, spiritual, and cultural roots. We explored areas where my family's heritage originated, in addition to places that helped to shape one or more family member's identities which isn't necessarily tied to our genetic composition. The two places that we went that were linked to my roots were Salzburg and the Netherlands. Salzburg is where the Sound of Music was filmed, and Austria was where the Von Trapps lived before having to flee from German Nazis. Seeing as I'm named after the Sound of Music, it was really impactful to delve deeper into where my name came from in addition to seeing where scenes of one of my favorite movies were filmed.
We went to the Netherland's to explore my dad's ancestry, as his maternal grandfather was the first generation of that line of heritage to leave the Netherlands and come to America. Before that, all of my dad's ancestors lived in the Netherlands. We saw the church that his maternal Grandfather preached at and we saw the street that was named after him, because he had so positively impacted his community at the time that they wanted to name a street after him! Another part of this trip was to tap into our areas of interest as a group, and that mainly consisted of churches and art museums. I went to the Art Institute of Chicago in 10th grade, and my love for fine art grew exponentially from there. I love old paintings and seeing the artworks from hundreds of years ago. There's an art museum in Amsterdam that is a Vincent Van Gogh art museum and it tells the story of his life alongside his paintings from different periods of his life. Before this trip I never knew Vincent Van Gogh was Dutch! Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists of all time because of his color choice, distinct mark making, and the emotion that comes through in his paintings. During our visit to the Van Gogh Museum, I read a plaque in front of a portrait he painted of a woman. It said "A portrait needs to express the sitter's soul". I absolutely love that line. I have always been drawn to portraits because I think they can give you a glimpse of who that person really was or wanted to be portrayed as. The same goes for a self-portrait. As an artist, you use self-portraits to explore parts of yourself and to document yourself at that time. Self-portraits can express who you are, and/or who you want to be. This is exactly what clothing can do, too. Clothes give off an image of who you are as a person, and they can also represent who you want to be. People use clothes to build up an image of themselves and self-portraits can be used for the same reason.
In my senior collection, you'll see aesthetic elements tied to the formal elements of a painting. I will hand paint large brush strokes onto my garments, because brushstrokes and mark making are the language an artist uses to express themselves. I want each piece to have movement, flow, and balance just as any successful work of art would have. I'll express my story of transition in the language that painters have used for generations before me.
That was a lot of information, wasn't it? I have been developing this concept since June so I hope that there would be a lot to it! If you've made it this far into my blog post I will give you a round of applause, and say thank you so much for reading all about my concept for my Capstone Collection.
-Maria TenHave-Chapman
The house that was portrayed as the Von Trapp's house in The Sound of Music in Salzburg.
My parents and I in front of the church my Great-Grandfather preached at (the original building was demolished, but this new building was built on the same property). The second picture is my parents and I in front of the street named after my Great-Grandfather. My grandmother's last name was Van Halsema, obviously coming from her father.
This is my mood board for my collection! This shows the color palette I am working with in addition to the textural and artistic elements I want to include in some of my garments.
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