DISSENT COLLARS
The day after the 2016 election Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg made a strong political fashion statement. The Justice had a large collection of collars that she wears with her official robes, and the one she wore that day is the one she reserves for reading a dissenting opinion; she calls it her Dissent Collar. Wearing it to express political outrage was a gesture that was at once trivial and momentous, funny and serious, just the kind of unlikely combination that appeals to me.
Following her example I have been making, wearing and photographing my own Dissent Collars. My collars are tenuously constructed. I use odd materials, things I have on hand in my studio, like ear plugs; Swiffer pads; manilla labels; and plastic strapping. These pieces are not statements but residue, evidence of my need to make things, to spin my anxiety and sorrow into something tangible.
This project grew into several groups of work: the collars themselves, the images I posted on social media, and a series of self-portrait photographs. The work has been exhibited in a number of different exhibitions across the country.
INSTAGRAM POSTS
DISSENT COLLARS ON THE WALL
SELF-PORTRAITS
