Viveka describes London as a place ‘where two forces coexist in balance; this is the place where trends are born, an epicentre of constant fashion movement and renewal, but on the other hand, it is a place in which one can feel the fleeting character of existence thanks to exhibitions such as Death at the Wellcome Collection, cemeteries all over the city, and the huge amount of litter that act as vanitas.’ She sees a connection between fashion, Western society’s ‘dreams of eternal youth and psychological renewal’, and a subconscious fascination with the destruction cycle of the human body. The one-layer, hand-sewn Shroud designs were made to be ruined in an act of burial and held under wet soil for weeks, mirroring the way in which fashion ‘is produced to go out of fashion the next season and trends to be forgotten’. Viveka explains that ‘this cycle goes on and on, meanwhile putting more and more products into circulation.’
Viveka’s work, created through her own fashion brand, Amoelbarroco, has been showcased at official fashion events and has won her a national design award and a local art prize in Spain. Her first solo exhibition took place at the Da2 Contemporary Art Museum in Salamanca in 2012. Finding it impossible to continue working as an independent professional in Spain, Viveka moved to London a year and a half ago, where she is continuing to work as a fashion designer. The global crisis and its relationship with the mass production and excess of commodities has served as the inspiration for her latest series of artworks.
amoelbarroco@gmail.com / viveka@amoelbarroco.com
www.amoelbarroco.com
