“Antidote” is Ukena´s Debut COLLECTION THAT EMERGED from An EMBROIDERY PAINTING SERIES that was meant to be exhibited during 2020 but THEN didn’t leave the studio. facing this challenging situation and transforming it into a chance to expand the studio practice into something new. the result is this hybrid collection that blurs the line between painting and fashion and textile art and is now possible to be worn by you.

FROM TEXTILE ART TO FASHION

I never planned to go into fashion until one day I made a jacket with my embroidery work and posted it on Instagram. Immediately I received many messages from friends and followers that wanted to buy one and I sold 12 pieces in one day. Just like that.
I repeated it one more time and it happened again and I knew I was onto something.

I like the idea that my work is now also more accessible and can be seen outside of the gallery context. I personally think the word “wearable art” is completely overused, as many brands try to give their work the aura of contemporary art but in my case, it’s really just that. I am an artist that has been working with fabric and embroidery and just moved by chance into creating wearable pieces. It is all happening in the same studio with my same team.

About the series:

The series is located in this place in between abstraction and figuration. It might be under the microscope looking at the world of alien landscapes or bacteria. The year 2020 was filled with the subject of becoming aware of the power of this invisible world that surrounds and connects us and how it has the power to stop an entire planet. There are definitely aliens living with us but I am not sure they are out there in the stars but possibly already under the microscope.

Making the series was my personal antidote on how to deal with stress. All my exhibitions got canceled and for the first time since my teenage years, I didn’t travel at all and just focused on working in the studio. Every day was almost the same, 8-10 hours in the studio and that focus helped me through. Also financially speaking creating clothes was a way on how to get out of a situation in which it didn’t look like regular exhibitions would happen anytime soon. In a way, the whole collection was a surprise and a way of making it through this crazy period and a very personal approach on how to navigate out of the rough waters.