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It’s one thing to research the shared aspects of cultures across continents, and it’s quite another to add an inspired sculpture to that research.
Terese Brown ’07 explored a two-fold honors thesis entitled “Sculpture, Fashion and Cultural Exchange.” Under the tutelage of Alastair Noble, assistant professor of art, she focused on how hip-hop music culture and fashion styles have influenced Japanese culture and, conversely, how Japanese culture has impacted Americans.
Brown also worked on a sculptural installation that presents three figurative forms in a dramatic theatrical setting reminiscent of a fashion runway.
“My thesis is a cultural critique on how through appropriated fashion, groups of people and individuals from different cultures are able to redefine their images and engage in cultural exchange that changes their society as a whole,” says Brown, a Posse Scholar who graduated with honors May 19 with an A.B. with majors in art and economics & business. “I think many individuals and people who are looking for ways to express themselves find fashion and, in turn, culture as an attractive outlet to do so.”
Noble says Brown’s research went above and beyond just searching through magazines and pop culture images.
“Terese’s research took place during field trips to New York, Allentown Art Museum, Kemmerer Bethlehem Decorative Museum, Fashion Institute of Technology Fashion Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Art,” he says. “She also reviewed articles, books, and Internet articles on the subject along with her practice of experimenting with a variety of materials on her sculptural forms.”
Brown says her research not only taught her about other cultures, but allowed her to have a better understanding of her own heritage.
“I learned more about my culture and things that we have appropriated, things I once assumed originated in Jamaica, my country of origin,” she says. “Likewise, my approach to art dramatically changed. At first, I thought of myself as a fashion designer and did not really know what to make of the combination of fashion and sculpture. I was confused about being both a fashion designer and sculptor, and did not know where art like mine existed in the art world.
“Over time I became comfortable in my new role and realized that I was limiting my work and that by incorporating those two mediums, I would be able to design and sculpt in ways I could not have imagined before.”
The second part of Brown’s research was her sculptural interpretation, which was on display in the Williams Visual Arts Building.
“It is an interpretation of her written investigation in which these figurative forms wear attire that have traces of fashion designs and fabrics that reflect the fashion styles of Japan, U.S., Europe, Jamaica, and western Africa,” says Noble. “The postures of each of these forms also suggest aspects of docility, domination, and individuality.”
Brown has accepted a full-time offer in New York City with department store Lord & Taylor in its Executive Training Program.
“I am excited to start work in September, and more so at the prospect of graduate school in a few years where I can truly study fashion and sculpture,” she says.
At this year’s Aaron O. Hoff Awards ceremony, Brown received the People’s Choice Award, recognizing students known as unusually productive and concerned for the betterment of the College and its student body. She also received the Jeffrey D. Robinson ’80 Leadership Award, given to an accomplished student who is also characterized by noteworthy leadership in College activities and student life, at the annual Diversity Awards ceremony. She received the same award at last year’s ceremony as well. Brown was a member of Association of Black Collegians.
Honors theses are among several major programs that have made Lafayette a national leader in undergraduate research. The College sends one of the largest contingents to the National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year; 21 students were accepted to present their research at this year’s conference.