www.warpweftmemory.net
“There are stains. What are we to do with them? Her sweat has turned brown with time and its acid has etched itself into her white cotton shirts and the lining of dresses. Skin oil has darkened the fingers of leather gloves, and her idiosyncratic walk has shaped the heels of her shoes. Her clothes have been recording devices.” – excerpt from The Warp and Weft of Memory, 2018.
In her latest multi-faceted work, Renée Turner explores the contents of Gisèle d’Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht’s closet. Although Gisèle passed away in 2013 at the age of one hundred, the traces of her figure can still be sensed through the shape and wear of her clothes. Spanning decades, the range of garments illustrates her fascination with travel, textiles, and design. There are Greek woollen vests, a Chinese silk jacket and several dresses fashioned by the renowned Dutch designer Dick Holthaus. All were meticulously itemized in Gisèle’s own wardrobe inventories. As Turner notes, “Gisèle was a taxonomist of her own life.”