Ukrainian artist uses “second-hand” tiles to create clothing items.
Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova continues her ongoing ‘Second Hand’ series, for which she makes ceramic clothes utilizing tiles discovered around the globe. For her 2019 installation at Galleria Continua in Cuba, she collected ceramic tiles from the streets of Havana and uses materials from local factories while produces strong ties with the surrounding communities as a part of her creative process.
Kadyrova started the project shortly before Ukraine introduced decommunisation laws that erased all traces of the country’s Soviet past.
While this is an art project with some architectural connotations, Kadyrova’s installation also ties in with the recycling and upcycling trends in fashion. It’s easy to wonder if she will ever collaborate with a fashion house, maybe reusing ceramic pieces or even tiles created by a fashion designer to make her dresses.
