Emma Capps | 2023 | Illustration & Literary Arts

It Costs an Arm and a Leg

Silk dupioni fabric, mesh fabric, U.S. pennies, photography

For this piece, I made a hand-sewn, custom-patterned suit made of silk dupioni, mesh, and US pennies I drilled into to create the buttons. The fabric was chosen specifically to resemble the color and texture of coins. For this performance, I cut off the pieces made of mesh fabric, exposing my limbs and effectively destroying and undoing hours of work. This piece is an examination of fast fashion and the idea that, while these garments are cheap, for others they cost, well, an arm and a leg.

from Undoing, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, January 20 - April 8, 2021