country cousin

​Collaboration; Kate Bae+Ash Garner-THECOLORG, Country Cousin (w/ Guns)

Working with perceived stereotypes and bias, textile artist Ash Garner and painter Kate Bae present Country Cousin (CC), a collaborative series of garments created from canvas. The first segment is inspired by Virgil Abloh, the barrier breaking Black designer of Off-White and the head of the LVMH men’s wear, who died recently at the age of 41. 
 
Fashion has the power to signal beliefs and power structures and also allows like-minded individuals and groups to identify each other and band together for an array of intentions. The coronavirus pandemic more clearly revealed deeply rooted racisms in the US and new aesthetics of modern extremism. This same identification system can be applied to high-end or luxury fashion items which are often purchased and worn as a symbol of status and a way to identify like-minded consumers and lifestyles. While it can be argued that extremism and luxury fashion are much different and one is more harmful than the other, we aim to create a conversation suggesting that they are not so different; that both create dangerous and unequal systems of exclusivity and power – and that both use fashion as a way to create these exclusive groups and carry out intentions.
 
Country Cousin is officially defined as a person with an “unsophisticated” and provincial appearance or manners; the term contradicts the “sophisticated” beauty of high-end luxury design. Using visual cues within the garments, these works challenge binaries and the familiar and draw attention to generalization by having both the perceived “unsophisticated” and “sophisticated” exist within the same work. For Kate Bae and Ash Garner, their interest in the intersection of cultures and art world merges with their use of material to create this ongoing series.