The Reincarnation of Elmo's Clothes

It is hard not to think of the unrealized potential of Elmo’s clothes when seeing them all together tucked away in the dark warehouse they are stored in. When Danielle Gotell, Vancouver based multi-disciplinary artist, proposed a project that would utilize at least a few articles of clothing, it elicited quite the excitement.

For Danielle's residency project, textiles were required to conduct experiments with natural dyes, eventually weaving the material into various sculptural installations.  With Elmo's permission, Danielle hand picked several collared button-down shirts. Carefully chosen for their variation in fabric, colour and patterns, Danielle deconstructed the shirts into raw material.

As documented below, the chosen shirts varied in pattern and intensity in colour. A few shirts were cotton, silk, while others were polyester, rayon and combination blends. This selection gave Danielle a good sample of materials to help understand the different responses to the natural dyes she was using. 

Danielle Gotell's process of transformation was incredible to witness. Read and see the videos about her project here.