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Sierra Vaughn
Paralysis Inspiration
My collection Paralysis and is symbolic of my journey having sleep paralysis for 12 years of my life. Sleep paralysis is a condition when your body does not move while transitioning from waking or falling asleep and can result in hallucinations. My first episode was when I was ten - I woke up and was just sitting up in my bed and then I suddenly collapsed and felt my body being held down. I saw a while skeleton-like creature and smiling at me. That was the first of many episodes that I have had over the past 12 years and will continue to have in my lifetime. I want to use my experience to facilitate a conversation about why we should look deeper in to sleep paralysis, since 40% of people will experience sleep paralysis at least once. The majority of people affected are adolescence and although sleep paralysis can indicate sleep apnea and narcolepsy, the cause is still unknown.
Sketches
These are initial sketches which change depending on my sourcing of materials when up-cycling. The last look was changed into a finale style gown later on. Most of the pieces in my collection sketches are separates and can be dressed up or down based on physical activity. Each look has a face mask to add more of a inhumane element and to symbolize the inability to speak.
When deciding on colors for each look I scanned my drawings and color blocked them in photoshop to determine basic primary color sources and I used it to decide roughly which looks I wanted to have print as well. My main colors for my collection are chill, blood, sinister, scream, soul, and whisper.
Making Prints for the collection
In my hallucinations I have significant colors, purple, red, green and blue. The two colors that stand out to me the most are purple and red. Purple is a color my mind associates with when I am having my most horrifying hallucinations, I feel the most helpless and distorted. Red is when I feel like I am being watched or I am being cut apart. For two prints I want to show the odd texture of my hallucinations and I want to show red eyes that have watched me before.
Print Development
When making my prints I started out by hand drawing a cluster of red eyes from my hallucinations. I used Prisma color pencils and Tombo pens to create the eyes and then I scanned my image. I played around with placing the eyes in a continuous print and I made several layers to edit the iris and eyelids. When I turned off the layer for the iris and saw just the eyelids I enjoyed the negative bubble like feel and ran with my discovery. I also played with one of my sketches and made it negative and played with it as a potential print as well.
Print Testing
After my first batch of print swatches on silk satin and cotton sateen I found that the printer did not keep the light areas as large as I wanted and I also compared with other sourced materials to conclude that my initial eyes print needed to have larger scale and it needed more depth to pop out. From the bubble prints I chose the purple swatch in terms of color, but needed to go back and play with light and dark proportions to have it print lighter than it did previously. I went back on photoshop to adjust my prints, this time for the eyes I took out the eyelids and added highlights, for the purple bubble print I played with glow settings of the shapes in photoshop to create the print.
Agony
This look is inspired by the feeling of being grappled and slashed. I up-cycled materials from 100% polyester bed sheets for the top, polyester brocade, cotton canvas, polyester crepe back satin. The red beaded details are to resemble fresh blood from the hands gripping the torso. The pants are made of polyester crepe suiting fabric.
Teeth
This look is inspired by the feeling of your teeth falling out and having weird jaw sensations. The top is made from polyester bedsheets and the teeth details are made of clay I have sculpted. The skirt is a black sparkle polyester mesh with red ponte knit lining.
Vise
This look is inspired by the feeling of a heavy chest during sleep paralysis. At times it felt like something was gripping on like a gigantic hand was wrapped around my ribcage. The print is an all over print which I designed to resemble purple textures in my hallucinations. The corset outer shell is made of purple and black metallic mesh fabric, the backing of the mesh is made of black cotton broadcloth, the interfacing is made of cotton canvas and the lining is black polyester satin. The hand is made of primed cotton canvas stuffed with polyfill and armature wire for structure. The dress and face mask are made of printed silk charmeuse lined with a up-cycled polyester bed sheet.
Burden
The inspiration for this look is based off of vulnerability. When you go to bed at night you expect to be safe, warm and unsuspecting. Sleep paralysis catches me off guard and weighs me down at night. For this design I deliberately chose to make a chain like dress to convey weight and discomfort paired with the vulnerability of lingerie. The chain dress is made of metallic nylon cord and the technique used to make the chain dress is a mix of knot tying and weaving. The bra and panties are made from a up-cycled dress. The orange and black mesh makes up the outer and the black polyester mesh is used for the lining. The bra cups are hand made out of plush cut and sew foam.
Oculus
My final look is inspired by my transformation from having sleep paralysis for over half my life. From all my episodes I have learned how to cope with the paralysis and hallucinations. I am calm now and no longer feel anxiety going to sleep. The dress is an amalgamation of elements of my hallucinations that no longer frighten me and have actually become part of my story and identity.
This dress has pop out features using double layered plastic boning encased in tubes with hand twisted metallic nylon cord on top. The outer shell of the torso is made of black polyester textured charmeuse, the supporting materials include boning and cotton broad cloth. Bamboo pleats are featured at the center front for subtle texture for a bug like feel.The dress skirt is printed silk charmeuse with eyes on it similar to a hallucination I have had.
Final Line UP
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