Heidi McEvoy-Swift

Life after life... Afterlife?

This exhibition presents work exploring traces of use and embodied performance in five costumes taken from the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds costume store.  In this context the garments are both media for creation, and objects suffused with history.  Embedded within these costumes are the stories of the designers, makers, donors and actors whose work and interaction with them is examined. 
What is a costume once removed from its performance? what may it embody? and what of the previous life of the garment moves forward with it, from it, into its next incarnation?
​
Life 
The costumes themselves are laid bare for interrogation.

after life…
A series of booklets examine the materiality of the costumes and present their factual biographies including interviews with the makers, wearers and others involved in their use and re-use. 

Afterlife? 
Work that responds to the costume, creating it’s continuing story from eight invited artists.

Exhibition at The Crab Drawing Studio, Bournemouth.  August - September 2022 curated by Heidi McEvoy