“Needlework is a tool of power and communication.”
— Bonnie Magee
Materiality
Bonnie Magee continues to celebrate femininity through her practice, exploring her connection to nature, beauty, and emotions. She sources an archive of lightweight, opaque, and translucent fabrics that complement the notions within her research. When collecting various scrap materials, she focuses on recycling discarded fabrics, giving new life and utilising off-cuts and donations, kindly supported by Ayrshire company, MYB textiles, producer of Scottish lace. Through her exploration of lace, Bonnie continues her investigation of transparency and the significant connotations between women and lace.
Process
To generate primary research, Bonnie visits museums and exhibitions, collecting objects and photographing captivating subjects. She then uses Photoshop to crop and manipulate these images to align with the concepts she aims to convey.
Bonnie Magee has always used her hands and body to pin and layer samples on her skin, which helps her connect closely with her work and enhance its organic feel. By allowing her samples to interact with the female form, she explores themes of empowerment and the celebration of ‘the feminine.’
She is inspired by womenswear fashion designers such as Roberts Wood, Alexander McQueen, Iris Van Herpen, and Simone Rocha, whose creations resonate with femininity, nature, and form.
‘The Feminine Grotesque’ by Bonnie Magee explores aspects of beauty and ugliness and how they may be interpreted through different perspectives. Throughout her previous work, Bonnie was often drawn to light, ‘pretty,’ flowing, feminine subjects. However, she began investigating darker subjects, during museum visits, she discovered a range of preserved body parts. The ways in which they were displayed often made people squeamish and forced individuals to look away. However, Bonnie was intrigued by the textures, folds, and details of the tissues, which were almost identical to fabrics and manipulation techniques that had compelled her in the past. Despite the fact that these free-flowing forms were traumatized organs with a dark history, she found them strangely beautiful.
