Tittamari Tolonen

In her MA thesis, Tittamari Tolonen explores the journey of creating a visual and conceptual world through various finishes. The final garments result from the delicate interaction between knitting and the application of mechanical and chemical finishing methods. It was essential for the creative process to knit all the material myself. Even though I worked with a desired visual world in mind, for me, the design always starts with the materials. Careful selection of the yarns and knit structures enables the later use of the chosen finishes. The ideological concept and visual research behind the garments in this collection is the phenomenon of women watching themselves being watched. In this process, the garments play the role of discourse, on the topic of comfort and discomfort between concealing and revealing, asking questions about their vulnerable nature. Working with this narrative of concealing and revealing was extremely rewarding in the finishing phase. By utilising textile finishes to manipulate and change a fabric’s emotional or aesthetic properties, one has the unique opportunity to choose what to hide, what to emphasise, and whether to completely change the fabric’s appearance. I see the ready garments as delicate notions of the bigger discussion of what it feels like to be gazed at and looked at, monitored even, and what it feels like to be an embodiment of a sight. Making the garments was a free-flowing, improvisational journey. Exploring the material led the thought process. The idea was not to create garments but, in a way, to first break the idea of clothing and collage textiles as notions showcased against the subject of discussion—the body. Tittamari Tolonen tittamari.tolonen@aalto.fi +358442797232