ALEXITHYMIC
The Alexithymic costume is designed to produce
the somatic and social experience of alexithymia
in continious negotiation with a context
that cannot hold different experiences of emotion.
By inhabiting the costume, the body is affected and changes
the perception of their surroundings,
while capturing
the experience of what is to experience alexithymia
within a emotional normative socio-cultrural context.
2025-2026
Cotton coutil, phosphorecent thread, satin ribbons, wool, sequin fabric, wood, steel
Cotton coutil, phosphorecent thread, satin ribbons, wool, sequin fabric, wood, steel
To place the alexithymic body within this space was to make visible the tension between a system that demands the legible, productive emotional understanding and an alexithymic body that cannot provide it on those norms.
This instability captures the invisible work of the alexithymic to exist in an context that cannot hold or understand different ways of expereincing emotion.
Inspired by corsetery and straitjackets, the alexithymic jacket constricts the body creating tension points that are noticible when in movement. It restricts breathing to the point of becoming a conscious action.
The embroidery is phosphorescent, rendering visible the constant action of the nervous system, both as the system connecting the brain to the rest of our bodie(s), but also its hypersaturated state within the Alexithymic Period.