VCA ART 2021

Elsie Preston

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours)

Practising on Wurundjeri land, I make work fuelled by the slippages between text and textile. Investigating the semiotics of fashion, I borrow words and garments from this context and I extend their aesthetic associations into the context of art. I use methods of wordplay, particularly the rebus puzzle, to recode a language that speaks to the material associates of the garment (such as the cow and the tongue that touches texture). In my assemblages, objects behave like garments. Existing off the body, their aesthetics dress the senses, rendering garments unfamiliar and difficult to decipher.

Elsie Preston, Hat Hair, 3D Print, 2021. Documentation by ALEC.
Elsie Preston, Cattle chute, or a catwalk (installation view), High Brow (installation view), Timber, MDF, house paint, chipboard, paper towel, lipstick, thread, coloured paper, pencil, ceramics, buttons, handmade garment, nonslip flooring, found leather boots, wool, aluminium, clothing tag, 2021. Documentation by ALEC.
Elsie Preston, The Rebus, Timber, plywood, clothes rack, mannequins, plastic shavings, Aquascutum trench coat, handmade and dyed trench coat, bike riding sleeves, wet cotton, wet wig, silicone, sailor costumes, wax, leather boots, ceramics, 2021.
Elsie Preston, The Rebus (detail), Wet cotton on mannequin, bike riding sleeves, 2021.
Elsie Preston, The Rebus (detail), Timber, plywood, wet wig, silicone, hat block, hair clip, 2021.
Elsie Preston, The Rebus (detail), Timber, plywood, sailor costume, ceramics, wax, leather boot, 2021.
Elsie Preston, Platform, non slip, Timber, plywood, non slip flooring, leather boots, woollen fabric, 3D print, silicon, acrylic paint, collaged paper, mannequin, handmade garment, 2021.
Elsie Preston, Platform, non slip, Timber, plywood, non slip flooring, leather boots, woollen fabric, 3D print, silicon, acrylic paint, collaged paper, mannequin, handmade garment, 2021.

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campus is situated, the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin Nations, who have created art, made music and told their stories here for thousands of generations. We also acknowledge and extend our respect to the Traditional Owners of all lands on which our work is viewed, shared and enjoyed, and to all Elders, past, present and emerging.

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