Olli Autio

This MA thesis collection explores the concept of monsters and monstrosity. Viewed through a contemporary, feminist lens, monsters are in this work seen as manifestations of an existence without boundaries. Limitless, non-defined, ever-changing. The scariness of these monsters doesn’t come from violence, but from their ability to disrupt the pre-learned and the systematic. As a child, I was always scared of monsters hiding under my bed. Due to their ability to be anything, and not be defined by logic, I was not able to reason that there could not be a monster there. This prevented me from sleeping, but there also was an inexplicable draw to know more about these monsters. This concept of going beyond human understanding was very intriguing to me in this work. The collection is heavily focused on material development, with knitted, woven, printed and hand-crochet fabrics. An internal dissonance and a feeling of aliveness inspire the material choices, with non-traditional yarns and three-dimensional textures. There is a clash between familiarity and unfamiliarity, comfort and disgust. Surface patterns are combined in the techniques to create an overwhelming visual world. The materials are the starting point for me. In this work I wanted to specifically aim to create confusing materials that you’ll want to touch and feel to find out what they actually are and how they are made. The garments are designed to support and uplift the intricate materials with simple, oversized shapes. The garments also carry a dissonance, starting from normal, regular garments, rethought and distorted to create monstrous shells. The garments disguise the human form and reshape the wearing experience, giving the garments and materials their own agency.