The Making of the Placental Dress
Our language leaves for us the breadcrumbs to our past origins. Even to this day, we retain phrases like “the family tree”. But where does this notion of a family tree originate from? Perhaps it stems from primeval practices like the burying of the placenta into the trunk of a tree, buried under tree roots or planting a tree sapling where it is buried in the earth. Or maybe, it was from the custom of planting a tree above the deceased or their ashes buried in the ground? I once read that archaeologists have found Neolithic Celtics buried within the trunk of the trees. It is claimed that Buddha’s mother grabbed hold of a tree branch, as she gave birth to him under a tree. Some even claim that Christ died on a tree, much like Krishna and Attis both died on or under a tree. Without a doubt, trees have formed an intricate part of ancient mythology across the globe, surrounding both creation and death.
Ever since I was a young child, I was absorbed into the local Caribbean folklore, where I grew up in Trinidad. I have fond memories sitting in my family’s veranda, listening to my grandparents and mother reciting folkloric tales. Of course, the Greek mythology mesmerised me, my favourite Tv show was Xena The Warrior Princess, as it loosely reinterpreted many of the well known myths. It seems as I get older, I am coming full circle to my childhood interests and passions. This time though, I’ve been trying to more deeply study mythology and folklore from many different lenses, be it from the Jungian psychoanalytical lens, as well as through feminine alchemy and esoteric symbolism. Each lens adds a different layer to a myth. So much so, that across on my Substack, this is where I explore my personal research, condensing it into monthly essays.
About 9 months ago, I was deeply researching the Tree of Life symbolism, which lead me to this photoshoot, where I wanted to represent it through its correspondence with the human placenta. So I created a dress made by tying knots and coating in a fibrous merino wool. I cast a model who is representative of a woman in her menopausal stage in life, because it was our elders that are the keepers of ancient wisdom, passed down through our grandmothers. You can read more about my construction and preproduction and execution of the shoot here on Substack.
For now, I’ll share a few of the images from the series, while the full story remains on Substack, if you are interested.
Model is Yan @ Tamblyn Models (Brisbane)
Dress and headpiece designed and made by Katriena Emmanuel
Photographer: Katriena Emmanuel
At the end of the shoot, Yan showed me a beautiful blue gown she had, which I thought complimented the sunny, blue sky day on location, so we show a few quick shots of her as you’ll see below.
