Denise Mach | 2023 Portfolio

Portfolio

Denise Mach

Apparel Design

3D Studio Art

Mood Board

Inspired by the works of Asian creators I admire, my mood board consists of a variety of East and Southeast Asian projects and elements. From Wong Kar Wai’s signature film style to Sokai Yoon’s re-imagination of Cambodia using AI, I too, would like to emphasize Asian excellence through my brand.

As an Asian American, it is crucial for me to include elements of my identity, to not only make it authentic, but to also be remembered as:

Innovative

Cultural

Innovative

Nostalgic

02

Three Ladies

Three Ladies is a personal work inspired by my grandmother, my mother, and me; three women of three generations.

This piece was experimental because I want ed to use rice bags as a material in one of my projects.

The use of unconventional materials embodies the foreign feeling of trauma that is not yours. Most importantly, it demonstrates the beauties and difficulties of mother and daughter relationships.

Design Process

Sustained Investigation:

How does generational trauma affect one’s identity and perception of themselves?

Material test swatch with a rice bag, red glass, beads, and thread.

Brainstormed traditional Asian dress ideas and its connection to identity.

Researched the history behind the cheongsam/qi pao and key details to incorporate.

Inspired by Guang Li’s The Cage -- Constraint, and Mukzin’s cheongsam-inspired dresses.

Details:

Mandarin collar, large front, side slit, embroidery, dangled beads, and crochet roses.

Materials:

Rice bags, white thread, red thread, red glass beads, faux pearl beads, red and green acrylic yarn, and straight pins.

Construction:

Used tracing paper to trace Japanese Sewing Books’ size Medium cheongsam pattern onto tracing paper.

Traced the pattern onto the rice bags.

Pinned the pattern pieces onto a female dress form and sewed together with white thread.

Embroidered glass beads and faux pearls onto the dress.

Sewed crochet roses onto the dress.

Design Process

Captured Memories 03

Captured Memories is another personal work that continues to explore generational trauma in relation to memories.

This was my first installation piece. I wanted to incorporate crochet into one of my projects, so I made a crochet net and expanded my ideas from there. The photos represent recollection and reflection, and when combined with the crochet net, it acts as embedded trauma that connects generations together.

Sustained Investigation: Design Process

How do memories keep people connected and help people understand generational trauma?

Initial idea arranged on a wall.

Brainstormed what I wanted in my piece and how I planned on using the materials.

Researched about a type of traditional fishing net used in Cambodia.

Inspired by Igshaan Adams’ Oorskot.

The photo shoot setup in a studio. Fishing lines were used to hold the crochet net up, connecting to one tripod on each side.

04 Shade of Origin

Shade of Origin

is another personal work that continues to explore generational trauma in relation to colonialism, war, and identity.

The creation of this piece began with my interest in instant noodles. It is rooted in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan’s suffering under the political, economic, and military “umbrella” of the U.S.

The combination of atypical and typical materials shows the complexity of trauma and its presence in our daily lives.

Details:

Crochet net, dangling beads, intersecting threads on the shaft,

Materials:

Instant noodle bags, paper parasol, red and khaki thread, twine, faux pearl beads, glass beads, and spray adhesive.

Construction:

Cut instant noodle bags so they fit on the panels.

Spray adhesive on the parasol cover and instant noodle bags, then attach.

Hand sew the instant noodle bags onto the parasol cover using red thread and twine.

Crochet two nets using red and khaki colored thread, then stretch and attach onto the ribs.

Individually string 28 faux pearl and glass beads before tying each one on the ribs.

Design Process

Meas

Meas is a final project I created in DSGN 121

Computer-Aided Design. I was inspired by Khmer culture, but more specifically, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia and Lakhon Khol (Khmer masked theatre).

I created four technical drawings for four different items:

Dress pants

―

Lunch bag

― Chair

Bedroom wallpaper

Using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, I created technical drawings, pattern repeats, technical drawings filled with my pattern repeats, and mock ups.

Design Process

My color palette consists of warm, gold colors because when I think of Cambodia, I think of the Golden Age, Apsara dancers, and traditional royalty. Thus, I titled my project,

I created four different pattern repeats inspired by various Khmer elements. For the first and second pattern repeats, I traced images using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. For the third and fourth, I handdrew and image-traced them in Illustrator.

Rather than creating tech drawings and mock ups for four apparel items, I wanted to challenge myself by making a variety of items.

I used the blend tool to make the pattern repeats look realistic.

Patterns

Patterns

Patterns

First:

Pattern repeat of Cambodia’s national flower, the rumdoal.

Second:

Pattern of the Hanuman’s mask, a monkey god from a Cambodian epic poem called Reamker.

Third:

Pattern repeat consists of a motif commonly used in Khmer Ikats.

Fourth:

Pattern repeat also consists of a motif commonly used on Khmer sbai’s, a shawl-like garment.

Design Process

Denise Mach