The Lavender Hinge is a
provocative collaborative venture between the artists Lisa Z. Morgan and Eric
Magnuson and resides within the blurred boundaries of what is considered art,
fashion and life. Their work inhabits a tactile space and dimension which
straddles and bridges different, or opposing, genres, approaches and medium.
Art and fashion, ideas and craft, living and design, passion and philosophy are
found in the reflection of the other. Their creative output ranges from
sculptural garments to sewn paintings, sartorial gestures, short non-films, and
sound pieces, written fables, effleurage works and fragrant plantings. Each
project and body of work joins and mingles at the point and hinging between
presumed opposites. The void as object emerges as subject and in doing so, the
hole as a signifier expands into the positive as an image, concept and form.
The male becomes female and recto verso. Discipline, gender, authorship and
meaning are sublimated, merged and the yin and the yang fuse and are married as
one.
The Lavender Hinge has zeroed in and
focused on the ubiquitous everyday buttonhole, infusing it with a sensual
personality and character. In doing so The Hinge has elevated this particular
‘hole’ to the level of a cipher or sign and of a tool, device and vehicle for
storytelling. While black holes spin at the speed of light, buttonholes by The
Lavender Hinge flout and examine the eternal feminine symbol as both void and
object. Fashioned from artist's fine linen as well as luxurious gentleman’s
suiting fabrics using cashmere, wool, mohair and silk etc (most notably donated
by Holland and Sherry) and stretched over wooden stretcher bar supports, the
oversized buttonhole resonates and signifies a calculated historical exposing,
violation, and celebration. Through the lens of painting the work is charged
with a Fontana-like explicitness and bold sexuality, yet is devoid of and
beyond, graphic or vulgar illustration. When the handmade larger-than-life
buttonhole is inserted into a suit designed by Kiton, Marc Jacobs or Sean Jean,
the penetration and marking of a man’s power suit with the sewn slit becomes
both a highly subversive and loaded act and artifact. This is finely crafted
work with an acutely critical edge, weaving together a delightful sense of play
with a poignant and enigmatic mindset.
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