Empire Dress

Empire Dress, in Victorian style, is made from maps of the British Isles. Constructing the clothed body from territorial representations, Empire Dress makes reference to discourses about feminised nature and territory whilst also evoking narratives of the ‘mother-land’. It reminds us of the gendered power relations of both the map and the gaze. Worlds were to be ‘conquered’ and to be ‘penetrated’, activities largely undertaken by men whilst lands are often imagined and predominantly described as female.

Empire Dress is in a private cllection in Saudi Arabia.