PATHWAYS TO UNDERSTANDING

Pathways to Understanding is made of over 140 individual squares of white and off-white repurposed fabric, found at local thrift stores. Using hand and machine sewn techniques, Slaughter manipulated shirts, skirts, dresses, pants, pillows, tutus, jackets and coats from wearables into unique squares by looping, twisting, cutting, overlapping, pulling and weaving these fabrics into quirky, bumpy, loopy patterns.

Each square became individual and unlike the one before. A nine-foot-tall sculptural dress made of copper, wood and mirrored glass invites the viewer into considerations of vulnerability, personal “armor,” outer masks, and disguises. The viewer is faced with the armature and bare substrates of a “garment” void of fabric, to their own reflection dwelling inside.