2018 • Wearable • Leather
The piece is fabricated from leather panels hand-stitched together to create a soft, pliable structure that drapes over the shoulders. The leather is deliberately under-structured, allowing gravity to pull the form downward in a slumped posture that physically manifests the weight of worry. The inward-curving design creates a protective, self-enclosed gesture that mirrors the introspective nature of anxious states. Embedded sensors detect subtle movements and postural shifts, feeding data to a Teensy microcontroller that processes the physical expressions of worry. Through Max MSP, these movements are translated into hesitant, wavering sonic textures that aurally represent anxious mental states. Part of the Musical Prosthetics series, the piece demonstrates how material choice and form can guide emotional expression, with the soft leather encouraging withdrawn, protective gestures rather than expansive movement. 
