Peicen jiang
Fashion, Body and Garment MDes
SAIC School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Specialisms: Womenswear / Apparel / Embroidery
Location: New York, United States
Peicen jiang
First Name: Peicen
Last Name: jiang
Specialisms: Womenswear / Apparel / Embroidery
Sectors:
My Location: New York, United States
University / College: SAIC School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Course / Program Title: Fashion, Body and Garment MDes
About
Peicen Jiang‘s work explored the societal pressures placed on the female form to create garments that reflect the body’s state in society. Employing mediums—including installations, sculptures, garments, and accessories—her art serves as a visceral commentary, showcasing the impact of societal expectations through distorted representations.
Jiang received a BFA from Southwest University in Chongqing, China, in 2021, followed by an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2024.
Currently living and working in New York City, Jiang’s series of works, To Pierce Through Water (2023–24), delves into the interplay between beauty and brutality. Employing textile manipulation techniques on historical garments, she crafts exaggerated silhouettes with visceral textures, blurring the boundaries of fashion and sculpture.
In this collection, I explore the complex and psychological pressure of rigid societal anxiety and how this force manifests in the distorted female body, deformed into a site of violence. Drawing inspiration from historical garments, I manipulated and rearranged the images of historical corsets and crinolines, creating a jarring juxtaposition of beauty and brutality. To prepare this collection, I explored the works of H.R. Giger and Franciszek Starowieyski, studying their creations alongside corsets and crinoline construction techniques. Through creating these garments and placing them on bodies, I observed the human body undergo a transformation, evolving into a distorted, otherworldly form—a unique biological existence. Drawing inspiration from Franciszek Starowieyski's art, I manipulated fabric to resemble flesh, creating a new layer that extends from the body's surface. A central focus of my material is clothing sustainability, which entails waste reduction and slower production. Besides the leather, all the fabrics in this collection were sourced from dead stocks and revived using various techniques, including embroidery, beading, and slashing. I hope the audience appreciates the showcased craftsmanship and can use this work as a vehicle to reflect on their own social anxieties about the social malleability of form.
Competitions
