AFM
The Art Of Females Museum Journalist
Sonia Chabbi
The AFM Feb 1 Sonia Chabbi
Lashun Costor: The Evolution of a Strange Fruit What it means to be a black women: Deconstructing Ideas, Reconstructing Identities pushes viewers to consider the ways in which race has affected the fashion system in terms of visibility, aesthetics, and power.
The AFM Feb 1
ABOUT THE ARTIST Lashun Costor is a fashion designer who recently graduated at Person School of Design. She has immersed herself in understanding her ancestral roots and the social issues our country faces today. She want her audience to receive and reciprocate a message throughout her many pieces whether it is about race, politics or feminism, they should leave with some curiosity about subject matter and question the world around them. She communicates through her garments by creating an era and then back to reality. In her works she combines Fashion, Art, History and Social Issues.
ABOUT THE PROJECT- THE EVOLUTION OF A STRANGE FRUIT The Evolution of A Strange Fruit is about the experiences and contributions of black women in American society to create a collective understanding of our struggles and perseverances. Her recent work has been displayed at The Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries in New York at the exhibition Fashion and Race: Deconstructing Ideas, Reconstructing Identities. "The goal of this project - says Lashun- is to create a bridge between the past and the present using fashion to enlighten others about what is often overlooked."
The AFM Feb 1
Lashun shows us that garments are more than a piece of clothing but a connection to our past. Her works are compelling and ambitious, they are not only the representation of a well-done manufactured clothes, but also an evocation of the historical trauma of the institution of slavery yet, challenges the stigma of Black women's body. Even though people might think slavery is a thing of the past it still affects the black community today and and how as African American women have felt defeated and just not good enough , to acknowledge that they are raisin and triumphed about it all. She add: " This piece along with my thesis questions not only my own blackness as a woman but the blackness of others who contributed their thoughts and opinions. By listening to the stories of other black women I am able to create a collective understanding of what it means to be a black woman. Like any story, this one has been through many drafts and is now ready to be seen. This is where you come in. With your help, I will be able to create a one of a kind wearable sculptures that molds and fits the natural features of a black woman to emphasize the psychological captivity of slavery but is also the mental captivity in today’s society. By playing with different textures and shapes in order to express the deep pain and emotion we as black women go through."
The AFM Feb 1
This talented and so young artist, within her art deeply touched my heart, she is able to give voices to all those people that struggle with the same problems she has faced and last but not the least, as mirror of human existence, she collected, preserved and interpreted the evidence of this reality, so that people now and in the future will be able to know about the real history and to embrace their true identities.
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