Amina Walker

This started with an investigation into holes and windows, not as absences, but as portals where we can glimpse into our heritage and understand our identity. They represent the gaps in our knowledge or the missing pieces of family histories. These spaces are where understanding can emerge, serving as portals of clarity, allowing viewers to peer beneath the surface of garments to glimpse the form beneath.

Reflection manifests in multiple forms. Physical reflections appear as shadows cast upon the body. These shadows break down complex forms, such as patterns in lace, into their fundamental shapes, leaving subjects recognizable only by their most distinguished features or rendering them abstract. When reflections are projected onto the body, they add dimension and complexity to the form. The reflected objects themselves become subjects of inquiry: What are they? What stories do they carry? How do they impact our own narratives? Patterns and motifs throughout the garments reference the recurring motifs in memory and childhood from wallpaper in childhood house to floral landscapes. The silhouettes further reference my history taking inspiration from old photos of my grandparents and the merge of Jamaican and British style embraced by the Windrush generation. Showing that we are not passive blank surfaces upon which these shadows fall instead we are complex three-dimensional beings wrapped in layers, where reflections dance and play. Curves, silhouettes, spirals, and full circles move across the skin, telling stories with their underlying histories from the craft of crochet and hand lace work mixed with lace innovations such as laser cutting.

Overall it examines how the past impacts us, not as a simple influence, but as an ongoing dialogue between generations and between what is revealed and what remains hidden. Through the garments, it explores how learning about our ancestry can illuminate and reinforce aspects of ourselves previously unseen, creating a continuous cycle of discovery and reflection that shapes both our understanding of the past and our vision of the future that can reincorporate the aesthetics and motifs of the past .