Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (2022)
The Kiss (2023-2024)
KLIMT SERIES
Bringing Gustav Klimt paintings to life in costume
ONGOING (OCT '22, OCT '23, NOV '24, + SPRING '25) // INDEPENDENT PROJECT
What began as an over-the-top Halloween costume and a digital fabrication challenge has evolved into an artistic journey. Driven by a set of self-imposed constraints, each year I've committed to re-using or thrifting as many materials as I can while exploring increasingly complex fabrication techniques.
My personal set of rules for each Klimt include:
— Re-use the same dress
— Explore a new fabrication technique
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (2022) — Laser cutting and engraving wood
The Kiss (2023-2024) — Laser cutting and engraving fabric, sewing
Judith and the Head of Holofernes (2025) — Waterjet cutting, 3D printing
WHY KLIMT?
I've had a lifelong love of Gustav Klimt's work, but my appreciation has always been tinged with internal conflict.
On one hand, his art was revolutionary for his time, sparking the Vienna Secession and presenting women as active, powerful figures who seemed somewhat in control of their own sexuality. On the other hand, I can't ignore the potentially problematic aspects of his work: the oversexualization, the male gaze, and the troubling representations of women as defenseless and vulnerable, such as in Danaë and The Kiss.
This series became more than just a costume recreation. As I delved deeper, I found myself questioning not just Klimt's artistic choices, but broader societal dynamics. Should a male artist have been the one to pioneer women's sexual revolution? And with his upper-class subjects and gold-laden palette, can his paintings be enjoyed simply for their aesthetics or is there some undercurrent of wealth worship?
Surprisingly, the closer I got to accurately recreating his works, the less I enjoyed them. My approach to posing shifted from passive postures to direct, confrontational eye contact that challenged the original paintings' dynamics. I became intimately connected with the subjects, researching the lives of women like Adele Bloch-Bauer and Emilie Flöge, stepping into their narratives and experiencing a profound sense of empathy.
By making myself both the artist and the subject, I took charge of a narrative that had long been controlled by male perspectives. Using thrifted materials, a repeatedly transforming dress, and modern fabrication methods, I created a work that looked back at the viewer—challenging, questioning, and reinterpreting a complex artistic legacy.
Vector production file
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
Klimt, Gustav. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. 1907. Neue Galerie, New York City. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=153485. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.
Vector production file
The Kiss
Klimt, Gustav. The Kiss (Der Kuß). 1907–1908. Belvedere, Vienna. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38827275. Accessed 8 Dec. 2024.
DESIGN PROCESS
The Making of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1:20)
The Making of The Kiss (0:59)