Elisa's Pink Blush Dress

Marina Cruz’s fascination with heirloom garments stems from the realisation that clothing is a repository of memory and meaning. In its material, construction, style, and dimensions, clothes reveal imprints of those who wore them as well as the social and cultural conditions in which they were made. Her family’s treasure trove of antique garments belong to a time when emphasis was placed on skillful tailoring and handmade clothing, in contrast to the fast-fashion trend that characterises the clothing industry at present. Notably, this was also a period when well-established gender biases about women’s work and their place in society prevailed.

Whereas her paintings depict children’s dresses lying flat on a surface, the sculpture, Elisa’s Pink Blush Dress, (2013) is three-dimensional fiberglass cast of a dress worn by her mother as a child. The process of casting preserves the dress’ every detail, from its intricately embroidered collar to its heavily pleated skirt. The sculpture evokes narratives of innocence and childhood, identity, and family ancestry and its solid form embodies the lived experience that once inhabited its hand-stitched form.