Neocephila

Year:      2025

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Event:   World of WearableArt Neon Section Finalist

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Inspiration:        

A once glorious and glamorous pink moth becomes a victim of the entomopathogenic cordyceps fungus. Mycelium threads gradually replace its own tissues, and mind-altering chemicals set the moth on an erratic death march towards its final resting place. Here it becomes a food resource for the fungus, which becomes ready to reproduce, and bursts forth from the remains with spectacular bright orange fruiting bodies.

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Materials & Techniques:        

The garment began with creating the main component, which is worn like a backpack. It began with a recycled hydration vest, to which shaped pieces of a plastic 200lt drum were attached to create a solid support. This was padded with recycled foam and shoulder pads, then covered in recycled satin. This material was also used to create the spikes, which were stuffed with recycled tulle. The headpiece began with a recycled bike helmet, and plastic drum pieces, pool noodles and shoulder pads formed the shaping. The multifaceted eyes were made by stitching pom-poms into fabric balls, then stitching beads onto them. These were then stitched onto one  plastic bowl before being stitched to another already attached to the helmet. Most of the decorative fabric pieces were from recycled garments – including the pink sequinned engagement dress of Janet de Boer – and op shops. Most were textured and distorted with a heat gun before being hand stitched to the surface. Plain pink fur was hand painted with acrylic paint to create mottling and stripes, and layered in strips to create the sectioned look of the thorax and limbs.

Milk carton plastic was used for the base of the gauntlets for stiffness.

The wings were spray and hand painted on both sides, over an outline stitched onto them, with patterning created by stencilling through different sizes of sequin waste. Fishing line was stitched to some of the edge, and the wing design outlined with black sequins. They were then treated with the heatgun to create the tattered, decaying effect.

The final treatment of the acrylic painted spikes was a spray of glow-in-the-dark paint.

 

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