Curatorial

Alexander McQueen & Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous

In 2022, I had the pleasure of working with St. Louis-based Barrett Barrera Projects to research pieces from their private archives and write exhibition didactics for their traveling exhibition, Alexander McQueen & Ann Ray: Rendez-Vous.

Rendez-Vous offers a rare glimpse into the life and mind of Alexander McQueen and introduces one of the twentieth century’s great, but lesser-known, fashion photographers, Ann Ray. Interdisciplinary in scope, this exhibition brings together sixty-five photographs hand-selected by Ray from her archive of over 32,000 negatives, more than fifty dress objects spanning the entirety of McQueen’s career, ten gifted garments from Ray’s wardrobe, and various pieces of fashion ephemera.

Rendez-Vous opened at the Crocker Art Museum in Fresno, CA on December 18, 2022, and will travel to other venues through 2025.

Photos by Joshua White. Rendez-Vous is curated by and produced by Barrett Barrera Projects.

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A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes

Working in partnership with Sofia Hedman and Serge Martynov of the interdisciplinary art and design studio MUSEEA, I conducted research for and developed exhibition didactics for the traveling exhibition A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes.

In storytelling, archetypes exist as powerful figures that consolidate certain universal human traits. While fashion designers work in tactile media such as paper patterns and cloth rather than in the written word, they are nevertheless storytellers using symbols that carry valuable, non-verbal information. A Queen Within—Adorned Archetypes takes this insight as a fertile starting point from which to explore how contemporary fashion designers engage with seven female archetypes. These archetypes all stand as wellsprings of creative inspiration, as well as opportunities for contemplating the relationship between dress, society, and our shared history. 

AQW opened at the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2013 and has since traveled around the globe.

Photos by Joshua White. AQW is curated by MUSEEA and produced by Barrett Barrera Projects.

Fashion Study Collection

Since 2018, I have served as the Director of the Fashion Study Collection at Columbia College Chicago. In this role, I oversee the care and maintenance of the collection, facilitate class visits, and curate (in partnership with student interns) yearly window exhibitions that highlight standout pieces from the collection, and which explore the history and social significance of fashion and dress.

The Fashion Study Collection at Columbia College Chicago is an exceptional collection of designer garments, fashion history, and non-Western dress. A hands-on, academic, and inspirational resource for students and the public, the collection was founded in 1989 and has grown to house more than 6,000 items of dress and 4,000 works on paper.

The historic collection consists of everyday and special occasion dress for women, men, and children dating from the early 19th through the 21st century. The collection also includes accessories, uniforms, athletic wear, wedding dresses, leather, and furs. It provides a visual history of fashion and cultural history of dress, and is open to students and faculty from across the college, as well as to outside researchers.

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