SPring 2022
The Spring 2023 collection is inspired by the center panel of Hieronymus Bosch's otherworldly triptych
entitled Garden of Earthly Delights. The center panel I chose to focus on depicts a dizzying scene of naked male
and female bodies frolicking around a surrealist secret garden, while animals, both real and fictional, roam
around. Figures are seen eating and lying upon ripe fruits the size of boulders, such as strawberries and
blackberries. The devouring of the fruits is a direct symbol of sex and lust. Sin is on full display, as Bosch depicts
the earthly desires and temptations that plague humankind. The surrealist garden on which the figures stand is
just as heavenly as the figures themselves. Shades of saturated green, blue, pink, and orange flood the panel.
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Being a favorite of mine for years now, I wanted to create a collection that shared that same peculiar energy
as Garden of Earthly Delights, while taking direct inspiration from its organic forms and acidic colors. My
research process began with a deep dive into the painting, Bosch, and the time period. After watching films and
videos about the complex painting and its subject matter, I delved deeper into the world it was created within.
Northern Renaissance silhouettes became a big inspiration as I delved more into Bosch's life and the time
period he lived in. Everything from empire waist gowns to tied stockings. During my research, I read of a fungus
by the name of ergot that grew on bread during this time period. Scholars speculate ergot and its
hallucinogenic effects played a significant role in inspiring Bosch's peculiar paintings. I then began researching
the effect of hallucinogenics and the effect it has on the human brain. Inspired by the beautiful, and vibrantly
colored scans of human brains on hallucinogens, I created a Rorschach-esque painted print that appears
throughout the collection. The colors of the print, and the collection, are derived from the very color palette of
the painting. The materiality does not end there; patchwork, studs, feathers, and acrylic embellishments are also
used to create unique textural moments. The mirrored acrylic pieces embellishing multiple looks in the
collection are cut in an organic shape meant to allude to both male and female genitalia, depending
on the pieces' orientation. This is a direct reference to the sexual symbolism Bosch paints.
