WARDROBE
Wardrobe represents a series of pieces that each pay tribute to an individual woman by using specific artifacts and materials related to their experience and life stories. Photo credits: Brian Forrest (Wardrobe).
Travel Diary
(2010)
This performance uses sentimental clothing and the spoken text from a mid-20th century travel journal handwritten by a woman whom Brucker knew as a child. Her name was Flora Adams. Adams had grown up in a west-Texas orphanage and never married. She did travel extensively in her life, often under the guise of religious journeys. When Flora Adams died, Brucker received objects from Adam’s estate including the diary. The piece was performed with artist Robin Parsons and actor Leah Zhang who each wore clothing related to a transition or journey they experienced in their own lives.
Mend and Mint Condition
(2010-2011)
Mend was given to the artist as a clothing donation for Brucker’s Memorial Project, but the artist felt the dress was too special to cut up for the project. Instead, a pattern was created from the dress and a simple glue mold was created from one of the original dress buttons. With the help of her childhood friend, now a pattern-maker and cutter for costume in film, Brucker was able to duplicate the pair of dresses in Mint Condition, with a nod to the human life cycle and the repair and mending evident in the original garment.
NOTIONS
(2009-2010)
In Notions, sewing materials are transformed into a tribute to the practice of handwork and the items found in a sewing basket once owned by a friend’s grandmother. Excavating the detritus of this particular basket, one continues to think more about mending and repair. Similar in craft to Brucker’s piece, LOST, this installation is instead about what we find when we pay attention to the skills handed down to us from others.
