“They loved to breathe beauty, tradition and romanticism…” Vintage garment woven sculpture

“They Loved to Breathe Beauty, Tradition and Romanticism” was a site specific installation for ‘Unravelling Nymans’ exhibition, commissioned by Unravelled Arts. The installation consisted of a vintage garment woven sculpture, short film and small woven hair mementos. The installation explored the lives and creativity of the Messel Women who lived at Nymans. The Messel women, mother Maud Messel and her daughter Anne, Countess of Rosse, were talented, creative and highly skilled costume/dressmakers, embroiderers and designers with a passion for collecting, preserving and archiving textiles, dress, antiques, their lives and family heritage. The vintage garment woven sculpture uses some of the costumes worn by Elsa in the short film and was developed in response to findings around Maud and Anne’s characters and their personal styles. Vintage dresses (Victorian, 1930s, 1950s), negligées. Vintage fur stole. Rose velvet ribbon. Vintage taffeta ribbon. Dressmaking pins & pin cushion. Threads. Nyman’s arm chair.