FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Nyx, Goddess of Night
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
Photographs by Montana Billings
Outline the story …
Upon learning the theme, I almost immediately settled on the idea that I wanted to make a costume based on a goddess, preferably one associated with the sky, with light, or dark. After hours of research I chose the Ancient Greek goddess Nyx, the personification of Night. The ombre colors of the garment represent the time between dusk and dawn, Nyx’s realm of night. I used goldwork embroidery to depict the planets in our solar system, (except Earth - this is Earth’s night sky), as well as numerous stars deepening into the dark-blue night. The moon and Polaris are depicted in the palest blue, both appearing in the night sky early. The Seven Sisters of the Pleiades are represented on the back, stars visible before dawn. These celestial bodies are still used in celestial navigation today. I wanted my depiction of Nyx to represent night as an object of awe, beauty, and guidance – not of fear. The back hem includes a peachy-pink, to represent the onset of dawn and one of Nyx’s offspring, Hemera - personification of day. In some Ancient Greek stories on the origin of the Universe, Nyx is the first deity to exist, in others she is the daughter of Chaos. To signify both aspects I painted a shawl to represent the Big Bang; in many ancient depictions Nyx is shown with a starry black shawl – this is my interpretation. Ultimately, Nyx is Night but also at the very foundations of the universe to the Ancient Greeks.
Outline the construction…
I initially wanted to make a Grecian-inspired dress. The drapiest fabric in the colors I wanted I found in georgette. I found a 1927 pattern for a gathered Grecian party dress, which I was going to alter. I almost immediately had trouble working with the georgette fabric. The fabric very easily warped out of the shape I would cut it in, which made it impossible to make into a dress with fiddly pattern pieces. I realized that what made the most sense was to make an historic Ancient Greek dress, the chiton. A simple tube of fabric, I sewed up the side seam and sewed two seams at the top – making the holes for the arms and head. My next idea was to use goldwork embroidery – bullion wire (purl) - to represent celestial bodies. I have never done goldwork embroidery before but I couldn’t imagine anything else that would have the sparkle and texture that I wanted, and I had recently read a lot about goldwork. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try! I backed each section I would embroider with linen on the inside to give the airy fabric some solidity. However I had a lot of trouble doing the embroidery on georgette. The georgette very easily snagged on the pieces of bullion, making runs in the fabric, and stretching some of the fine twists of the metal bullion. Despite this I am happy with the final product! The shawl is black crepe painted with acrylics.
There is just something about the simple elegance of the chiton. I really love the pathway of stars on the back twisting it’s way to the front floating in the sky. Also a fun touch with the shawl that I really like
So pretty, i particularly enjoy the gold embroidery on the dress. Beautuful
Such an effective design, and lovely embroidery!