2019 HATalk Competition Entry

Zara Gray

Zara Gray – United Kingdom

The tröll hat

Description

A whole supermarket aisle of liquorice and fizzy sweets after hiking through trees around a lake.

Catching the first snow fall of the year in a hot tub that is stuck precariously onto the fifteenth floor of a hotel overlooking a wooden rollercoaster.

My headpiece is inspired by Tom Paine’s concept ‘From the sublime to the ridiculous’ and my interpretation is taken from how I saw the two often juxtaposed on my first visit to Sweden. I discovered how a nation of people finely balance one with the other. Their sublime mid-morning coffee and pastry ‘fika’ is offset by the ridiculousness of ice bucket showers. Long hikes are rewarded with huge bags of pick-n-mix sweets, traditionally eaten every Saturday.

Natural fibres play a huge part in Swedish interiors which are inviting and relaxing. Taking this I chose natural straw fibre for my sculpture. It is embellished with the Aquarius constellation as a nod to the value of time spent in nature. I also used leather. Both nod to the ridiculous, the straw is finished with glossy spray paint and the leather is embossed. Colour and texture are mixed to portray the ridiculous. Unruly curled goose biot feathers appear riotous. A crown of dip dyed veiling fades from pink to lilac and back again. It is punctuated with shimmering sequins. The limited colour palette maintains the sublime. Transparent and reflective trims compliment and contrast. The see through fabrics frame the trim around it and reveal the rest. The sublime and ridiculous are tied together with crin which appears always to move fluidly between the two.

Paine describes how one is only a small step from the other – something I witnessed repeatedly. The Swedish people tightly manage the equilibrium between these two. Alternating sublime and ridiculous they thrive.

Materials