Keywords: canada, gampi tissue, japanese gampi tissue, mississauga, noelle hamlyn, ontario, paper, bonnets, cotton, gowns, silk, smocking

Ceremony

Noelle Hamlyn

Dimensions

700 x 570 mm (largest)

Materials

Gowns (6) and bonnets (6): cotton and silk embroidery and smocking on Japanese gampi tissue

Artist statement

‘Many events in our lives seem forever tied to clothing. The rituals of christening, marriage or burial have all become associated with dress customs that are deeply evocative. It is as if the memories of the ritual, the time and place fill the garment like a vessel, enmeshing memory in the network of the lines and spaces of the garment itself.

Ceremony is a series of garments intended to explore these memories. Although the gowns are newly made, lace itself seems to echo with history; its openness creating a sense of lightness, of childhood, innocence, and celebration. But there is also a sense of fragility, ageing and perhaps melancholy — as if the fibre has been worn away with time. Are these childhoods that have been lost, memories of children who have been lost, or memories themselves that have become lost?’

Behind the scenes

Love Lace: Work in progress