Exquisite Corpse is a collaborative project with Ingrid Mida, Acting Curator and Collection-Co- ordinator of the Fashion Research Collection at Ryerson University, Toronto.
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The work grows out of our shared investment in drawing as a significant method in the research of textile and garments. The seemingly macabre title refers to the drawing game game played by the surrealists where an image is completed by multiple players, each adding a section without seeing what the previous drawer has drawn. Like the game, we pass ideas and images back and forth across the atlantic in the development of work about garments which are invisible. These items of clothing are might themselves be considered 'exquisite corpses': beautiful and fascinating material traces of people long dead.
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The project asks:
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What can drawing do as how can drawing make visible aspects of the clothing that is otherwise unseen?
How can drawing share and communicate collection artefacts that are too vulnerable to go on public display?
How can drawing raise awareness of the value of textile artefacts and the challenges facing curators and conservators?
How might a space be created to share and value textile artefacts owned by the public that are laden with personal memory and significance but are not materially significant enough to accessioned by a museum ?

In 2017 -2018 the project was supported by an Artist's International Development Fund award jointly sponsored by Arts Council England and the British Council. This enabled Casey to undertake a residency at the the Ryerson Fashion Research Collection and for Mida to visit Casey's studio in the UK. Building upon this, Mida and Casey ran a workshop at Contemporary Textile Studio Canada in July 2018 and are now working towards exhibition of drawings and garments in 2019.

For more information about he project and for updates see the project webpage >> https://www.sarahcasey.co.uk/exquisite-corpses