Mette Wik
(ba)
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Mette Wik BA Graduate collection Photographer: Sofia Okkonen
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Mette Wik BA Graduate collection Photographer: Sofia Okkonen
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Mette Wik BA Graduate collection Photographer: Sofia Okkonen
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Mette Wik BA Graduate collection Photographer: Sofia Okkonen
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Mette Wik BA Graduate collection Photographer: Sofia Okkonen
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Mette Wik BA Graduate collection Photographer: Sofia Okkonen
MW_0660/40: LOST IN TRANSLATION
In her graduate collection, Mette Wik explores her experience of the language barrier encountered during her studies at Aalto University as a Swedish-speaking Finn.
– I feel that I can communicate up to 60 % in Finnish, whereas the remaining 40 % gets lost in translation, and this is what I wanted to address in my graduate collection, Wik explains.
The language barrier is an example of a flaw that is invisible to the naked eye, but which nonetheless presents a crack in the otherwise smooth facade. Both language and clothing are part of the image we build of ourselves, contributing to our communication through an often a polished exterior. Even though language itself is not visible, Wik believes there are connections between language, or the lack thereof, and the visual. Finnish has become Wik’s verbal school uniform during her studies, leading her to examine communication problems and misunderstandings through the lens of the classical school uniform, as well as through her own quasi-uniforms from her childhood years in the elementary school.
– I want to emphasize the feelings of vulnerability and frustration, as well as the awkwardness and humor that arise when trying to make oneself understood in a language other than one’s mother tongue. I aim to translate the experience of communication problems into something visible and tangible.
Wik deconstructs and mixes the tailored with the draped, the mature with the childish, in the pursuit of an expression lacking uniformity and collective consensus. By adding a zipper to the back of a blazer that allows seeing the body, or wearing the blazer as a skirt, the uniformity of the garment is deconstructed along with its previous associations. The fit of the garment is intended to be somewhat awkward, almost theatrical; in other words, the clothes will either be oversized to create the effect of clothes to hide in, or small and close-fitting to show skin and expose.
– Claustrophobic clothes can be linked to the feeling of having too limited a vocabulary. My collection is a celebration of those who are not afraid to speak even if they only know 40 % of the language and may hence feel inadequate.
Contact information:
Mette Wik
+358 504000855
