ART MERCH

COLLAGE T + TOTES, 2022 - ONGOING

What happens when you drop your clothes off for donation? Maybe they stay  in a thrift shop for about a week before they are sent to a larger processing center to be bundled and shipped across the world. Imagine your old favorite pants are sent to another country, where it’s part of a tightly-packed bin of used clothes that are sold on a second market. After a week hanging from a metal-roofed kiosk, the clothing that does not find a home is somehow disposed of – in a makeshift rural dump or deep in the sea. Anywhere that we can’t see it – anywhere that we don’t have to take account for how much is piling up.

Because we don’t see the full problem, we can’t address it at scale. T-shirts (and tote bags) are produced at a rate unlike any other type of garment: for promotions, for your company, or for your family reunion. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to say “I’m part of the team for this occasion.” We consider the cost of fast fashion disposability, but we rarely take issue with the plethora of T-shirts that inundate our lives- partly because of the customized emotional links. 

Partly because a large contributor to the oversaturation of T-Shirts is the same thing that contains the secret to the T-Shirt’s design success: it’s comfortable. It’s easy, casual. And generally, it’ll fit. 

Collage (or assemblage) is the medium I identify with most – The idea of new creation from existing resources. And as I was flipping through racks of thrifted t-shirts, I started to piece together graphics and phrases from different pieces. If one shirt said “ready player one,” a few shirts later, I’d see something that said “game on.” Soon, I started shopping for shirts; first considering the feel and material then selecting based on the design. Finally, I cut the shirts in half, sorted what I’d amassed, and put together halves to make a new whole, based on messaging and size. 

From there I started to experiment with ways to play with transforming the T-Shirt shape, with the aim of prioritizing comfortability, but still altering the T-Shirt aesthetic in unexpected ways. Different colors and sizes are matched together: some of the styles have open shoulder or underarm sleeving; two different fronts or two different backs combine to create distinct necklines. Countering the idea of the mass commerce production, Collage T’s have stitching that is wavy, with loose threads. Outwardly exposed seams and rough edges add structure and shape. Every shirt is unique in message, sizing and fit.

Currently sold on Poshmark.