Body Moulds: Series 1 – Reapplied (2008)

“It was the intention to review the body mould as something that worn against the skin so as to dress the body, in essence, in a garment or textile. However, once removed and left outside of its container, the dirt began to dry and crumble, the roots snapping and breaking apart. Plant fibres form a large number of the fibres that we strengthen through a series of mechanised actions and turn into roving, then spun yarns before they are woven or knitted into cloth. These fibres, removed from the soil are in fact ‘dead’, but are given a recycled life in the form of textiles. However, without this processing, the individual fibres are fragile and easily broken into smaller fragments, which, in turn, is what happened to the roots in the body mould. In applying this dead and dying garment to the living body, I considered the analogy of the body being buried beneath the soil and whether the water and nutrients released during its decomposition could merge with the mould and revive the seeds in the soil and the create another cycle of life; as is the main aim within natural burial.”

-[A]Dressing Death: Fashioning Garments for the Grave

Photography by Pia Interlandi