‘The Burden I’m Wearing’ is a series of seventeen self-portraits. It is a personal confession. In each photograph, I wear every item of clothing I own from a single category, be it dresses, underwear or trousers. Researchers found that a ‘sufficient’ wardrobe consists of 74 garments and 20 outfits in total. My wardrobe far exceeds this, despite me having adopted several positive habits: buying much less, purchasing second-hand items where possible, prioritising high quality and durability over fast fashion, and mending and repairing items. Yet every day, I can still feel the weight of my clothes. It’s an energetic blockage that stems from being aware that I am part of the problem and knowing its global consequences. Visually, the self-portraits evoke typical depiction of women in classical paintings, devoid of extreme emotion and passively allowing the opulent surroundings to overshadow the central female figure. In this way, ‘The Burden I Am Wearing’ highlights the weight of being a woman — all the dos and don’ts, and all the socio-cultural restrictions that have rested comfortably on women’s shoulders for centuries.
Krystyna Dul 