The project I did when I was in apparel design was a continuation of a previous project I did involving the Black Lives Matter protest. I wanted to do a project involving what was happening with the protests, as well as the gentrification that's happening around us. How it felt to go home where everything slowly started to look unfamiliar. How everything started to be under construction. The colonizing project. I feel like in many cities and towns, a lot of people- a lot of places- are under construction because of gentrification. 

I collected materials like old jeans and construction vests from different people and from thrift stores. I went around the school and collected materials that reminded me of construction and the construction of people, places, and homes. 

I altered the pants to be baggy and flowing to be reminiscent of the tarps over buildings under demolition. As well as the tarps that surround buildings that are being constructed; and the bright orange traffic signs and cones around the structure– Made to caution people from entering a space domain. 

The piece I created is modular, where all the pieces can be taken off/on, moved around, and deconstructed– made to fit however a person needs it to.  This piece evokes the feeling of what it’s like to be removed from a community, what it’s like to exist in a space to you are not meant to belong. 

My friends also collaborated with me by graffitiing this piece. We tagged the piece with graffiti that represented ourselves and where we came from, that this is where I live. It was important to me to have my friends tag this piece because graffiti is an art that stems from a place of belonging. 

I have to fit into these places I don't feel comfortable in. To me, familiarity is used for protection, and so to exist in familiarity, you have to be in a constant motion of change. This piece is reflective of this sentiment, by its being of modularity. To adapt to your surroundings means this is where I live.