FALSE LAVENDERS

False Lavenders

glass beads, sequins, metal wire, cotton thread, costume jewelry and other found objects.

This type of beaded flower can be traced back to 15th-century Italian embroidery ateliers where workers would scavenge misshapen and excess beads and transform these rejects into elaborate flowers for additional income. This side hustle eventually created a significant path in decorative arts history that speaks to processes of resilience, resistance, and mourning.

I see in this act of transforming these embellishments "rejects" a metaphor for queer ruse and misuse in the face of violence and marginalization, while emphasizing the place of the hand in these processes. My False Lavenders also question the assimilation of queer identities by late capitalism and the radicality lost in the process. How did we go from the “Lavender Menace” to the soothing and relaxing icon of the wellness industry?