Sagil Ilyas Md.Amin – Doing Fashion

FIVE FIGURES

The state of the body is ever liminal, dancing between the state of being human, state of sculpture un objet d'art and state of preconceived societal notions based on norms and colonial patriarchal biases. One can exist in one state or have one's being flow into multiple at the same time.

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Sagil Ilyas Md. Amin aims to bring together all of their artistic media and practices. The body at the core draped in sound, movement and clothing crafted for this very purpose while questioning their queer SWASIAN identity and its placement in the current societal context. Furthermore, he explores the liminal states of the body, its’ objectification and how softness can become a tool for radical resistance. Their work is a tapestry, poetically woven to question the status quo and bring visibility to pressing societal issues.

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"FIVE FIGURES" is not meant to be understood as a collection but as a piece of art situated at the very river crossing Sagil Ilyas has positioned himself. The pieces and contextualization aim to explore the liminal states of the body through five performative sculptures (namely YOUTH, BÜNZLI, FOUNTAIN, COW and PIETA), weaving a dialogue between the human body and bodily sculpturality. The clothes and the performance at their conceptual core cannot be separated, but flow into one another. They create a dialogue, capable of functioning separately in their respective contexts, performance and fashion, yet bloom in discourse with each other. Each garment is created with the performative and sculptural notion at the core and how they interact with the body, with the intention being that they can exist as singular pieces or in the collective with each other.

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To Sagil Ilyas Md. Amin, Fashion design with the mere goal of consumer good production feels redundant, especially considering the current political climate. To him, the output and impact should be more profound and immersive. The transdisciplinary approach allows them to exactly do that without having to compromise their artistic integrity while being able to extent the sentiment and concept of their work beyond the cloth. Sole Fashion Design is not the practice at the core, but much rather an extension of their world building onto the human body.