Diana Winkfield is an artist specialising in drawing and
painting with mixed Media. In this exhibition she has explored the idea of
memory evoked by concealed, worn and tattered clothing found whilst restoring a
17th Century farmhouse in rural France.
Diana Winkfield has carefully studied the items discovered
and has focused on the analysis of the colour, fabric, shape, texture,
condition and origins of the objects to reveal a concoction of both real and
supposed memories and stories.
Her work, which considers the cultural ideal embedded in
French society and expresses life and loss through depictions of found
garments; was also inspired by items from The Bowes Museum; whose founder
Joséphine was French. Joséphine was a
contemporary of the Empress Eugénie whose collection of costume in the museum
inspired Diana Winkfield to create a magnificent painting for the exhibition;
titled ‘EMPRESS EUGENIE’S WARDROBE’ –
painted on an old French linen sheet which was dyed in blue and brown and then
bleached by the sun. The painting has been stored folded for the last 6 months
to represent the clothes, some of which designed by Charles Worth, which were
packed up hurriedly in trunks in 1870 and taken to exile in England, where they
stayed until their auction in 1923. They lay for a further 30 years until they
were donated to The Bowes Museum by Miss Edleston in 1953. Personally this is
my favourite piece of the exhibition; not only is it steeped in history and
detail but it beautifully depicts garments that can actually be seen around the
museums own permanent collection. It such a stunningly evocative piece of
artwork, even the way it hangs with the creases from folds still visible is
enticing. The soft blur like detailing adds a whimsical dreamlike quality.
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EMPRESS EUGENIE’S
WARDROBE – La garde robe de l’impératice Eugénie
Mixed media on linen sheet 2012
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| Close up. |
Of course there are other pieces on display such as ragged
children’s dresses, interpretations of half a corset found in the attic; which
had such intricacy for a rural area that it suggest it may have been for bridal
wear. The fragments of china found on the site also represent the ‘wedding
list’ china which follows brides through their married life. These items were
used together to create 3 pieces of artwork named ‘WEDDING LIST I, II, &
III’.
Diana Winkfield also drew inspiration
from 18th Century underwear from The Bowes collection to create two
painting; ‘WORN, DARNED, PATCHED & MENDED I & II’. These paintings
signify the class divide of the time – one depicts a fine patterned,
embroidered silk corset, and the other is made of coarse brown twilled cotton,
with desperate mending visible. The two items were viewed by Diana Winkfield as
one for fantasy for ‘ornamental women’ and the other for practicality for
keeping peasant women wrapped up in layers to keep warm. Again I found these
paintings very evocative and a sense of history is invoked; the difference in
the two items is evidently reflected in the artwork.
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c.1750
This decorative example has its original wooden busk in place
down the centre front to give a straight rigid line to the fashionable cone-shape.
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‘WORN, DARNED, PATCHED & MENDED I & II’ - Usé, rapiécé, reprise et réparé
Mixed media on canvas 2012
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c.1750
Discovered in an old property in Whitby, this is a very worn
example of a homemade corset. Fully boned, it has a heavier curved piece of
whalebone around the top front, which has had a section added. The worn areas
reveal the canvas interlining, the whalebone and wool padding.
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The exhibition as a whole conjures an emotional reaction as
you find yourself delving into the garments past; creating your own personal
thoughts and supposed stories and memories from which they could reside. I
would definitely recommend the exhibition to anyone with an interest in fashion
history and the decompositions of fabrics and materials.
The exhibition is currently on display within The Fashion
& Textile Gallery at The Bowes Museum until 8th September 2013.
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