"Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face, it cannot be concealed..."

The "Sins" project... This is also a project i worked on during my year at Chelsea that was based on the idea of illusions. Specifically the idea of visible sins, whether or not one's deeds are visible, whether sins can follow you around or whether we can conceal them. This idea was inspired by one of my favourite novels- The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde...

"Sin is a thing that writes itself across a man's face. It cannot be concealed. People talk sometimes of secret vices. There are no such things. If a wretched man has a vice, it shows itself in the lines of his mouth, the droop of his eyelids, the moulding of his hands even."

These photographs are from my research period- gathering and collating as much imagery and texture and materials as possible from which to draw. I was also very interested in the painter Jenny Saville during this period- i was very interested in how arresting her paintings were, how delicate and yet how gruesome, and i was looking for ways to bring the 'grotesque' into my fashion and textiles design. I started to use unusual textures, draw inspiration from darker places, i used teeth, bones, dead flowers natural latex and leather, the whole atmosphere of the project was a sort of... dilapidated antiquity, as if things were rotting away before one's eyes, i was interested in bringing a kind of delicate beauty to the process of ageing and decay, the kind of beauty that Dorian Gray seems to be so ignorant of.

"Yes," he continued, coming closer to him and looking steadfastly into his stern eyes, "I shall show you my soul. You shall see the thing that you fancy only God can see."