Healing . . .

Thursday, September 23, 2021



        Healing is an intimate process, for with it comes vulnerability. When I thought of creating a wearable mixed media project that expresses the beauty of healing, I knew I wanted to use Band-Aids as the main material. While I toyed with the idea of making a top or a dress for this project, I loved the idea of creating lingerie (intimates). Lingerie is usually worn beneath clothes and in private, so I thought creating a bra and underwear set from wound care supplies would be the perfect way to portray healing physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Without further ado, let me take you through the creation process.


        The materials I used were assorted fabric Band-Aids, of course, and two different widths of fabric wound care tape. I lost track of how many Band-Aids I used in total, but I believe the count was around 350.


        While I planned out the layout for the bra and underwear, I used wax paper to keep the Band-Aids from completely sticking to each other and Scotch tape to hold them in place as I layered them on the wax paper (with the backing still attached to the Band-Aids). 



        After I placed all of the Band-Aids exactly where I wanted them, I peeled back the white paper backings and stuck them onto each other, careful not to crease the adhesive sides. After I had all the bandages in place, I slowly peeled the large pieces off of the wax paper, flipped them sticky-side up, and placed them back onto the wax paper. I then aligned the pieces and placed layers of the sticky white fabric wound tape on top to seal the two tacky sides together. When everything was fastened neatly together, I cut off the extra white fabric tape. 


        For the underwear, I had to incorporate the zipper in before I secured it with the white fabric tape, but the process was very similar to that of the bra. Lastly, I sewed on the eyes and hooks onto the ends of the bra.  Twenty plus hours later . . . I present to you my Band-Aid lingerie set!




        While I intended the underwear to be a little less high-waisted, I'm really pleased with the silhouette. It was quite difficult to create curved lines with the Band-Aids because although they were pliable, their shape made them more conducive to straight linear lines. Also, they were incredibly sticky, which made them a little stressful to manipulate.



        All in all, I am very happy with the way the lingerie set turned out! The twenty plus hours were definitely worth it! It was so exciting to see my creative concept slowly come to life. Now that you've seen it on Evangeline, my dress form, here is what it looks like on me . . .



        After this photo shoot, I realized that this is the first time I would be uploading photos of me in lingerie here on the blog. I love that this project pushed me a bit out of my comfort zone and allowed me to share a slightly more intimate side of me with all of you. Interestingly, while I created this mixed media project, I reflected on my own healing journey. It hasn't been easy, but healing isn't supposed to be. Healing is messy, scary, uncomfortable, and hard as hell sometimes, but with it comes profound transformation. I've done a lot of shadow work over the years, and I know I have a lot more to go, but there's peace just in knowing that we are all beautifully divine beings no mater what stage of the healing process we are in.


        Well, that's a wrap on my second mixed media creation here on Elizabeth, Marie, & Me. Be sure to let me know in the comments below what you think! Also, if you're interested in watching a short visual concept video that accompanies this project, head over to my Instagram post. Be sure to swipe all the way to the third slide to see it. I hope you loved this project as much as I did making it! As always, I am sending you all lots of love from my heart to yours!  


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“Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.”- David Richo


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3 comments

  1. Very interesting style exercise by you, Kristen... and a very cool one! There is quite an artistic feel to this along with trying to piece together a stylish outfit. Just be sure that you don't have to use any of those bandages in case... *something* happens...

    My Blog: John's Blog Space

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    1. Thank you so much, John, for stopping by my blog!
      xoxo

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