Name: Barbara T. Bradley
Major: Apparel Design
I’ve always been drawn to the magic of shaping raw materials into three-dimensional form. My MFA creative work pursues the relationships found in biophilic design, fashioning a reverence for nature’s mystery. Found natural objects are embellished into pieces of wearable art. Windswept reflects nature’s complex layering of texture, shape, and movement. My intent is to imbue the sense of wind and a transformation passage between humans and nature’s archetype spirits. Hundreds of feathers, fiber-wrapped wires and plastic elements are designed to suspend in space and become a conduit for light. The tubing translucency exposes a raw core; a metaphor on exposing our human vulnerability. The custom-designed bias-cut halter dress offers an organic, body-hugging, liquid drape. Layers of coffee-dyed cheesecloth and wire mesh wrap the body to mimic nature’s erosion, surfaces exposed to wind. Windswept explores how manipulation of materials can blur the boundary between humans, art, and our natural environment.
