Collage I

source: mixinfoid-chinacomcn

　　法国艺术家Gwen van den Eijnde为他的个展创造了这套雕塑感强烈、怪诞色彩的服装。此次服饰设计的材料有纸张、木质钢琴键、塑料包装袋与牙签等，通过服装上的褶皱造型、环状领以及戏剧化的头饰强调巴洛克时期的设计精神。“通过一件件雕塑感服饰的设计，增添了个展的梦幻感。‘人’是我的作品研究的出发点，在服装设计方面，我着迷于人体的自然美感，希望夸张地强调扭曲的服装及配件把人体美感的张力体现出来”
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source: dezeen

Artist Gwen van den Eijnde of France creates these sculptural costumes for his performances as bizarre fantasy characters.

Created using a range of materials including paper, wooden piano keys, plastic bags and toothpicks, the Baroque-inspired pieces feature pleated ruffs and dramatic headpieces.

Here’s some more information from van den Eijnde:

By means of sculptural costumes that I create piece after piece, I turn into fantasy beings during performances. The human body is the central point of my stylistic research. I am fascinated by the multiple ways that the natural silhouette of the body can be accentuated, exaggerated and distorted with clothes and accessories.

My costumes are constructed during a long process, organised in different stages: At first they are shaped with a “toile”, a prototype of the costume made out of cotton, pleated paper and cardboard.

I try to transform the body into a kind of sculpture, by composing with different volumes. The “toiles” are photographed, and then rectified and improved during several fittings sessions.

The photographs document the creative process and show the different stages of modelling the costume’s silhouette. The prototypes are then dismantled, since they will be used as patterns for the realisation of the definitive models.

The costumes are constructed in order to immediately create a strong visual effect. They are beautifully made with a special concern for colour and detail.

I improvise with a variety of materials: vintage fabrics, paper cut-outs, wooden piano keys, Christmas garlands, toothpicks, table sets, plastic bags… these are assembled by means of different techniques.

By using simple materials with a maximum of inventivity, I try to create sumptuous garments. The costumes then serve as mediums to incarnate and perform a gallery of imaginary characters. Artificial beings, androgynous creatures, that evoke a dreamlike world where the border between the human realm and the supernatural is blurred.

Combining stylistic elements from Mannerism and Baroque with contemporary and organic elements, I also play with court and ecclesiastical costume elements, along with masculine and feminine forms.

My characters are brought to life during performance pieces, where the main focus is the representation of the moment when imagination is “embodied”, and when the material world accesses the fantasy world.

I like to invite other artists from different disciplines on the setting of my performance pieces; for example, I have been collaborating with the past few years with the sound designer Jae-Ho Youn. The hypnotic effect of his music perfectly suits to the atmosphere I aim to convey during the performances. Moreover, I often work with a dancer/choreographer in order to develop the posture and the movements of the beings that I incarnate.
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source: culturevixen

Gwen van den Eijnde is a genius costume designer whose intricately designed garments reflect his immeasurable creative capacity. His costumes evoke a charming spirit of dark romanticism that borders on the bizarre, while remaining gracefully enchanting and ever-innovative. Gwen’s costumes all have a unique contemporary twist that juxtaposes classically-inspired touches like crowns made from wooden piano keys, and abundant Renaissance period embellishments.

Through precise attention to detail, including make-up and styling, Gwen’s costumes seem to take on theatrical lives of their own—a sheer reflection of his talent.
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source: inactfr

Gwen van den Eijnde invente des êtres. Ils ne parlent pas, ne chassent pas, ne dansent pas, bougent à peine. Ils sont proches, mais ne cohabitent pas. Leur lieu est ailleurs, leur temps est lent, patient, maniaque. Gwen van den Eijnde devient, à chaque fois qu’il le décide, un de ces êtres. Il débute alors un long, très long processus de fabrication de ce qu’il sera. Mais à ce moment là, il ne sait pas encore ce qu’il deviendra. C’est la parure qu’il exécute avec le soin de détails méticuleux et qui, pièce après pièce, le conduit vers ce qu’il incarnera. Lors des « apparitions » de Gwen van den Eijnde, on assiste véritablement à un cérémonial, attaché à on ne sait quel rite. Et l’on peut parfois penser dans ces moments à la fois au Samouraï, au Toréador ou a une Impératrice de Chine. Néanmoins, on ne sait jamais vraiment qui est en face de nous, qui est cet être qui ne nous voit pas et qui regarde des choses ou des êtres que nous ne voyons pas, qui n’existent peut être plus. Edith Dekyndt