Artist Research

 On this blog post about an Artist research i am going to talk about Guo Pei.

She is Chinese Fashion Designer, who i have as one of my references for my major project and since i heard from her. The pieces that she makes are really unique and really impresses me. 

Guo’s aesthetic, one observer of Chinese fashion notes, expresses “a visually deprived nation’s pent-up longing for imperial grandeur.” Photograph by Pari Dukovic for The New Yorker

The reason i chose Guo Pei is because of the new life that she gives to embroidery and the painting traditions of the Chinese culture, mixing it and incorporating the contemporary Western style.

Guo Pei style is all about the fabrics, shapes and textures by transmitting a message inspired in fairy tales, legends and military histories. "They tell the stories which paintings and embroidery have conveyed throughout the centuries." (Bio — Guo Pei, 2021) This is research was very important for the develop of my project due the history about the Ancient Chinese fashion that i want to transmit and explore.

“Guo is trying to reinvent Imperial style. But there’s a gap of a century in Chinese history, and her patterns, colors, and techniques have all been improvised in a vacuum.” (Nast, 2021)

This dress was inspired by Singapore's Peranakan culture and traditional costumes with a incorporation of contemporary elements. It is possible to see that the technique used in this dress was the traditional embroidery. After researching about it i got to know that this dress took five years to completion, it is all hand sewn with gold thread in-laid with precious metal. Guo pei used about 30 techniques of stiches.

The pattern used on this wedding dress shows an intricate details including the use of "Double Fish"(Explanation of the pattern symbology on another blog post) 

The pattern detail includes the image of the Dragon and Phoenix which represents the undisputed “match made in heaven” in Chinese culture and mythology. (Sotheby's to Auction Guo Pei's Gold Chinese Traditional Bridal Dress | Tom + Lorenzo, 2021)

References

Guo Pei. 2021. Bio — Guo Pei. [online] Available at: <https://www.guopei.com/bio> [Accessed 10 August 2021].

Nast, C., 2021. China’s Homegrown High-Fashion Designer. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/21/guo-pei-chinas-homegrown-high-fashion-designer> [Accessed 10 August 2021].

Tom + Lorenzo. 2021. Sotheby's to Auction Guo Pei's Gold Chinese Traditional Bridal Dress | Tom + Lorenzo. [online] Available at: <https://tomandlorenzo.com/2019/10/sothebys-to-auction-guo-peis-gold-chinese-traditional-bridal-dress/> [Accessed 11 August 2021].