Delicate Duplicates, Aging Dresses c. 1959: When Elisa was eight ; Aging Dresses c. 1959: When Laura was eight

Marina Cruz engages with memory, identity, and fragility in these monumental paintings of heirloom dresses worn by her mother and aunt as children, lovingly sewn by her grandmother who was a skilled seamstress. Like the twin girls who used to wear these garments, the dresses in Delicate Duplicates (Aging Dresses c. 1959: When Elisa was eight ; and, Aging Dresses c. 1959: When Laura was eight), (2012) are almost identical in their form, save for the tears and peculiar staining of each garment. In these panels, Cruz carefully depicts the material characteristics of each dress, faithfully translating the pattern, textures, colour variances, and folds that give each one its form. Their stained and ragged appearance belies their true value. In these children's dresses, Marina Cruz has woven stories of female craftsmanship and labour, of personal memories and lived histories, and of the unrelenting passage of time.