Elsworth Kelly Test Project

Translating abstract composition into wearable form

Pattern Cutting Deconstructed: Wearable Art explores how visual ideas can be translated into three-dimensional form through creative pattern cutting.

This project was developed alongside the work for the book, using an artwork by Ellsworth Kelly as a starting point.

The exercise investigates how a two-dimensional composition can be interpreted through the language of the body, pattern and garment construction.

Rather than reproducing the artwork, the process considers its shapes, proportions, relationships and spatial qualities as prompts for developing new forms.

Two distinct pattern-cutting outcomes were developed from the same artwork, demonstrating how a single visual reference can lead to very different interpretations when translated into wearable form.

The project is an important example of the research and experimentation behind the methodology.