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The Death and Birth of the Land and the Sea

The Death and Birth of the Land and the Sea is a five look collection of garments resembling long-lost treasure emerging from the ocean. This body of work reflects and romanticizes my experience with love, loss, and accepting change. My emotions are tied to the sea because of my experience growing up on an island, which provided a sense of belonging to the place. I also visited the sea in many distressing dreams after a close friend decided they would go off the grid for a year and a half to sail around the world. I adorned these garments with rope, seaweed-like fringe, ruffles, handmade fabric barnacles, and handmade nets to resemble symbiotic relationships and the way objects and animals can be taken over by the ocean’s ecosystem.

Inspired by avant-garde fashion, surrealism, and my own dreams, the collection heavily relies on symbolism to bridge the gap between the ocean and human emotion. For example “drifting from someone,” or “drowning in their absence.” Barnacles symbolize attachment. Rope represents feeling tied. Rocks represent cold, hard, heavy, sinking feelings. The growths and gunk we pick up on our journeys are not always beautiful but they add personality and we are treasured regardless.

Bio

Emma van Lohuizen will have obtained a Bachelors of Fine Arts in textile & fashion design from Maine College of Art & Design in May, 2023. Born and raised on the island of Martha’s vineyard, van Lohuizen is greatly influenced by and connected to the natural and whimsical environment.

Van Lohuizen designs and constructs playful collections of clothing, with their most recent collection, The Death and Birth of the land of the Sea, inspired by the fluidity of water and the subconscious mind. Their work was featured in the Old Sculpin Gallery in 2019 and in various craft fairs on Martha’s Vineyard.