Conceptual Clothing
Jenni Dutton uses the subject of the female body and clothing to work with the concept of absence and transformation, exploring associations around memory through the mixed media constructions.
The initial idea may come from a certain feeling, or a thought, or from sensations evoked by playing with materials, combining them and letting connections develop until the essence of the piece crystallises.
The forms are built around body shapes and developed through a variety of processes. A feeling of unease or discomfort can manifest during the construction by combining certain materials with forms alluding to the human body.
Shapeshifting Series
The Shapeshifting Series incorporates human hair with discarded animal leavings; shed snake skin, fur and feathers. The combination of these materials starts to suggest narratives associated with the many myths and legends around Shapeshifting.
The second dress in the photos has been acquired by The Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
It is featured in their exhibition ‘Dress, Dreams and Desire: Fashion and Psychoanalysis’.
The exhibition opens September 10 - January 4 2026.
Corsets
The series of corsets emphasise the theme of clothing as a second skin, taking on the form of the wearer, stretched out and laid bare, as trophies or exhibits.
The natural materials also function as a protective layer in nature; holly leaves; mackerel skins; shed snake skins; bark from a tree.
Dresses
Empty Dresses, suspended - taking on the fantasy of the perceived wearer. So much is suggested, implied and not realised; aspiration, romance, power, transformation.
Shoes
Shoes make a statement about how we present ourselves. They reflect the wearers status and economic position.
Stiletto high heels have the effect of underlining vulnerability and dependence yet at the same time demonstrating that the shoe can be a weapon and a means of keeping a woman ‘under the heel ‘ of a dominant woman.
Displaced Shoe
These shoes were made as part of the work I did about chinese foot binding. In the same way that foot binding is a restrictive practice emphasising submission and vulnerability, the high heeled shoe shares some similarities with these characteristics. The fitting of the foot into an unnatural shape echoes the bending of the foot to compress the arch in chinese foot binding.
The structure of the shoe forces the wearer to walk in a restrained manner and this draws a direct parallel with the bound foot designed to restrict mobility and therefore aid faithfulness. There is within this the sexual undertone of passivity. The shoe reflects a dualistic position one of sexual power that is off set by the crushed red glass inside, although very erotic in shape implies something painful and vulnerable. The outside has a protective quality as well a animal implications. something wolf like.
Many fetish objects use the juxtaposition of materials to evoke a mixture of both revulsion and excitement.
Goose Foot Shoe
The Queen of Sheba had legendary beauty and wealth. When visiting King Solomon he was determined to discover the truth about her foot that was said to resemble a goose foot.
He engaged her in conversation and tricked her into thinking that a stream lay in her path that she must step into. In fact the stream was made of mirror and the Queen lifted her skirts exposing her deformed foot.
Wrapped Figures
The series Wrapped Figures were experimental explorations into large semi figurative suspended forms, using basic wire, paper and glue.
I was experiencing ‘image dialogues’ and a new found freedom to explore more personal issues in my work. Eventually the ‘Wrappings’ became the focus, resulting in the Conceptual Clothing body of work.
