A 2-piece work looking at how anger and aggression are often used to mask feelings of sadness and vulnerability, particularly in young boys.

I considered this work after working in a youth detention centre and seeing that aggression and violence were often a defense against feelings of sadness and vulnerability. With the garments I will draw on cultural pictures of threat and aggression  such as tattoos. Tattoos also can be a strong representation of manhood for young boys to identify with.

This exhibition will show a young girl of 10 wearing a beautiful butterfly dress crafted out of hundreds of butterflies made out of silvery and blue metallic thread. These represent the beauty and lightness that the girl feels as she imagines that she can fly. The cube on which she stands will show reference images she has in her head when she senses this feeling such as looking into her mother’s face as her mother is smiling and delighting in her.