AUTUMN . WINTER 08/09
In the Mimesis project, Lara Torres developed a close collaboration with ceramist Mario Nascimento and the jeweller Catarina Dias in translating the mechanisms of memory into form through the exploration of the threshold between these practices. Through the use of the age-old tradition of plaster moulds and the use of natural latex and porcelain, they reproduce found clothing items from their original form into a memory - as a disruptive voice regarding productivity and functionality in design methods.
Photo: Rogério Martins
The methods used in this project were mostly artisanal, borrowed from other disciplines, and allowed for the reproduction of the clothing pieces. The process transforms them from copies into spectres of the original pieces. Since there was a translation from a textile material into other materials (like latex and porcelain), the ‘crystallisation’ of form was from soft fluid textile to rigid and fragile ceramic sculptures. By constantly posing the question ‘what is fashion?’ Lara Torres's practice represents a departure from the role of ‘designer as producer’ and turns into the embodiment of her own questions. Constantly redefining the territory of fashion practice, her work is presented in a broad spectrum of mediums, but follows a consistent conceptual path: to understand the nature of fashion.
By experimenting at the border of the discipline through the mediums of sculpture, performance and film, she had to learn how to use unfamiliar mediums within a fashion practice, allowing for a certain critical distance that came from applying other perspectives when looking at fashion.
CREDITS
Conception and design Lara Torres In Collaboration with Catarina Dias and Mário Nascimento Choreography Miguel Bonneville Hair Griffe Hairstyle Make-up Nana Benjamin Pattern-making Sharon Olsen Jewellery Catarina Dias and Lara Torres Music Simão Dias Press Helena Mendonça Production Nuno Sousa Performers/Artists Ana Sampaio, Ana Santos, Ana Trincão, Diana Mata, Liz Vahia, Rita Basilio, Joana Chandelier, Miguel Bonneville and João Valente Special Thanks to Daniel Barroca, Sharon Olson, Christina Dörfler, Helena Mendonça, Vitor Torres, Nuno Sousa and Associação ModaLisboa
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