"Ripensando Il Merletto" - Textile and Lace Museum of Burano, Venice - 2015

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Inspired by 17th century Dutch paintings, golden age of Flemish portraits, this costume questions the notions of illusion, of false pretenses. Major elements of this period's clothing, lace collars and cuffs constitute an important issue in those portraits, constantly highlighting a model's face in the very much used technique of chiaroscuro. White, brightening lace is featured in the forefront of every painting at the time, oppositely to the dark doublets and backgrounds, in order to show austerity, nobility, devotion . Departing from an Anthony Van Dyck painting I took the party to recreate the same doublet and using the chiaroscuro concept to materialize lace without using any. Experimenting with felting, pyrography, patina and embroidery for ways to light these pieces resulting in usury and fragility. Collaborating with a local atelier, ceramic pieces resembling the collar were made to create the illusion. Destined to mislead and fool the eye of a spectator, the costume is made for a micro performance ; the ceramic pieces are held by one string, when being undone the 'lace' falls to the ground and breaks in a crushing sound. Unexpectedly, we question ourselves on what we thought we saw and how delicate, soft lace turned into brittle, sharp ceramic.