FACADE SCHIAPARELLI
Work in the fall studio of 2025 led an intensive introspection into the concept of facade. Our work began by identifying and understanding the meaning of “the mask.” Further revelation would provide the framework needed to design a facade for a Haute Couture Fashion House.
Work in this studio began in a partnership to uncover what meaning could be assigned to “the mask.” I worked in collaboration with my greatest friend, Kacy Lyvers. Our work was informed by the honest realities of friendship.
COMPANIONSHIP
Two defined identities, meeting for the first time. Delicate ornamentation cascades the head and cheekbones, shaking the hand of an angular fragmentation that frames the brow and jaw bone. Comfort is found in contrast, as the two curiously explore this new entanglement, hand in hand.
Observe the first interaction.
Above, you can observe our final mask construction. The mask is a detailed and meticulous illustration of the complexities and reality of friendship. Before construction, we developed five tropes to encapsulate and describe the essence of our mask.
WEBS OF ATTACHMENT
Solace found wearing the mask of other begins to unsettle the authenticity of identity. How is perception altered through the comfort of companionship? A chaotic bold presence begins to reflect that of the grounded calming nature of other. And vice versa. The scaffolding of the relationship rests on the acknowledged truth behind reflections between the two.
Documentations of an acknowledged truth between two.
The space between is negative. The space between is a veil for the web of entangled being that exists between the two. Tendrils of information being fed, wisps of feelings float throughout; a co-constituted field of stretch. The web of attachment becomes an invisible architecture, structuring the fluid negotiations of self and other.
Tendrils form an invisible architecture.
ALTERATIONS OF PERCEPTION
The second half of the semester switched to individual work. I chose to research and design for the Haute Couture Fashion House, Schiaparelli.
Our task was to design a facade with the design tendencies and stylistic choice of our fashion houses in mind. I had a lot of fun creating my facade. The original designer, Elsa Schiaparelli, had a very abstract approach to design, pulling a lot of themes from Surrealism and Avant Garde ideas. She collaborated with Salvador Dalí to take a closer look into one’s individual thoughts and turn them into visible motifs. Her material choices demonstrate the contrasts and tensions between the elegance of beauty and surreal disruption of chaos.
One of my favorite parts of this studio is that everything was constructed by hand. Every tiny detail, was a second or a minute of my time, meticulously placing, gluing and assembling.
This elevation is made out of thousands of beads, tacky glue, wire, gold paint and a recycled Trader Joe’s bag.
My facade model is made out of scrap wood, nails, thousands more beads, random objects found around my house and at the craft store, E6000 glue, superglue, tacky glue, air dry clay, gold paint, wire, and an old watch.
FRAGILITY
TANGIBLE DIALOGUE
There exists an emotional, physical, and structural dialogue between self and other. Its transparency; never fixed. Its tangibility fluctuates, revealing a hidden mainframe of relation. Within this framework, connections evolve, an underlying blueprint, mapping challenges, resilience, and the temporal sediment of shared experience.
Blueprint of the mainframes; unveiled.
Fragility threads the mainframe behind the veil, constantly ebbing and flowing. It connects and disconnects, stretches and compresses, revealing the subtle dynamics of the inner workings of a friendship. Must a break always be messy, shattering and disruptive, or could it be simple, mendable and telling? The architecture of interaction allows tension and change to be navigated without collapse.
Never decided.
This is an investigation of the facade as a stage of spectacle that taps into the unconscious mind, liberating the imagination. The subconscious mind finds form by embracing irrationality and performing hidden dramas.
I investigated the concept of a hidden drama and explored how I could look at the facade as a stage for the subconscious mind. More specifically, what is happening in our inner thoughts and dreams and how can we make that visible? Elements that were utilized included the breaking down and fragmentation of facial features and the beauty that is found in the uncanny.