Kendall Emerson

An Open Letter to Humanity

Shaped by your violence, we have learned to be the least,
to dwell within the darkness, where we cannot be found, cannot be hurt, cannot be scarred.
We are to be wicked things: flirting with horror, toying with its power.

We have found beauty in your horror of the world.
The music of its screams.
The orchestra of its insanity.
What beautiful music it makes!

Beware yourselves! Those made of human flesh, for through your tale of torment and tragedy, we monsters have learned but one honest truth: we dark few have a love in our hearts that many humans cannot imagine, and a rage that very few would believe. If we cannot satisfy one, we shall indulge the other. Love us but beware us; beautiful as we are, all roses have thorns, and all beasts have teeth.

Website

Collection 2020 "Rigor Samsa" Visual

Photoshop

Final Visual for advertisement and collection artistic direction

A Manifesto

Photoshop

Read it. Memorize It. Practice it. The Manifesto is an embodiment of artistic practice and train of creative thought. It drives the work, and the work drives it. This document culminates the written goals of the artist's creative aesthetic.

A Dream: A Promotional Video

Android Smartphone edited with Premier Pro

Everyone has nightmares. Everyone has dreams. Sometimes they are one in the same. Sometimes we listen to them, sometimes we ignore them, and sometimes they become our reality. It is up to us to decide their fates and judge them how we see fit. For reference, the artist views this as a dream.

Latex Collared Shirt with Latex Trousers

Sheet latex, rubber adhesive, liquid latex

Inspired by latex clothing and punk culture, the outfit serves to incorporate principles of societal subversion via using latex sheeting in place of fabric. It is not remarkable until the material of the garments is noticed. Latex is often associated with the BDSM community, and these garments serve to balance societal decency while maintaining their dark and taboo roots.

A Person Who Is Different Than You

Latex garments, horse hair scarf, and foam latex prosthetic

There is always The One, and The Other. So often in society we judge others for being "different", and in turn, this forces outcast people to find unique ways to survive and adapt, assuming that we do at all. One has to give up apart of their humanity to do so. Some part of us has to die, so that we might stay alive. To give up one's humanity is a small price to pay.

A "Normal" Person

Cut and Sew Knit sweater with canvas trousers painted with black mica

The Freak

Latex sheeting and rubber adhesive

Everyone is abnormal or "freakish". We are all odd, peculiar, and strange. Some are proud of it, others are not. It is the people who reflect a complete sense of normalcy that are truly odd.

A Monster

Latex sheeting, horse hair, heavy canvas with applied acrylic paint

Being human is at times unbearable. We break and twist, constantly trying to fulfill the expectations that society imposes upon us. Sometimes we can adapt and manage, mending the bones. Other times we break from the mold, and cannot bear to be human any longer.

The Clothes of a Person Different From You

Latex sheeting, double sided satin, boning, fabric flowers

There is darkness within beauty, and there is beauty within darkness. Everything comes full circle. The human heart is a dark and perilous place full of judgement and hatred. It is up to us to conquer it; to sow the seeds of kindness, and accept that part of being human is being absolutely inhumane and strange.

Apparel Design ↓

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Kendall
Emerson