UNT MFA 2nd Year

This design research started with an investigation of how breastfeeding has been represented in art and fashion, maternity wear throughout history, and a personal survey of my own experience. In the search it was identified that representations of breastfeeding are often directly personal, and a wide range of garments tailored to breastfeeding incorporate baby-wearing in the construction. I chose to merge these two recurring themes in my designs. In Adobe Photoshop, I recreated photographs from my own breastfeeding journey by drawing digitally, and created a repeating textile print using these drawings. I intentionally chose to utilized minimally detailed line drawings on my figure’s appearance as a way for other mothers to potentially self-identify when viewing this textile print. This print was duplicated into two colorways and printed on 100% organic cotton. The cohesion of these designs focuses on visually representing the intersectional experiences of motherhood, breastfeeding, and impacts of clothing choice. Each aspect of this design was used to show the multifaceted affects pregnancy & birth, breastfeeding, and baby-wearing can have on the identity of a mother who has experienced trauma. The contribution my design has aims to incite conversations that allow others to express what their postpartum and breastfeeding experiences are, and influence a further body of work exploring this relationship.