Having the background in fashion I believe that clothes/garments (especially children’s clothes as here) actually represent NOTHING about us as our parents pick our clothes and basically tell us how to look and behave / act. The backs of the garments are open to reveal an inner piece of portrait about the ‘real person’ ugly, twisted, modern kind-of-Goya-esque portrayal of real-inner ugliness of people. The inner art work is done as a heat transfer in reference to the ‘fake-ness’ of people and how we hide behind our outward appearance. The outside shell (the garment) is stark white black newsprint-like writing all over to create a pattern but is the story about the person ‘hiding’ inside. The garments are on hangers that are hung from a cast iron rod. Behind each garment is a mirror (reflection of self) that reveals the back cut-out and inside artwork.
The people from this series are carnies that have thrown away their traditional like for the escape of the fair. The large paintings are about the people who attend these fairs and the lives that the ‘baby clothes people’ are trying to escape from being.
Devon LaBrea
Mixed Media, 2010
