Fashioning Phantoms

Six disembodied Victorian-style gowns, semi-transparent and ethereally green, hovering in place across the floor of Europa gallery bring to mind a gothic novel-type haunting, spectral and delicate. But for Brandon Morris, the eerie scene took shape out of a formidable technical challenge.

‍

During his final year as a fashion design major at Parsons, Morris envisioned crafting a series of “freestanding” dresses. The issue? “I didn’t know how I would do it,” says the 24-year-old artist. Then a friend introduced him to fiberglass. “I just thought, Oh, This material is woven, it probably works like a regular fabric,” he recalls. “When you put resin on, it hardens and turns transparent. It was perfect.”

Ghost-like indeed, Morris’ dresses in his new show, “Actress,” take on characters of their own, coming in sizes from tween to adult. One is hunched over, as though attending to some low-to-the ground task; one lifts up the fabric of what looks to be a nightgown, as if tiptoeing down a long dark hallway; one wistfully leans to the side, her arms slack. Speaking to the atmosphere emanating from the sculptures, the artist cites his fascination with horror movies from the aughts, especially The Ring (2002). “They have this very specific aura to them, and I want to get as close as possible to that feeling,” he describes. 

‍

Yet even the way the garments harken to the Victorian era—the go-to aesthetic for many a haunted house—are in fact reflective of Morris’ organic interest in the period and its fashions. “I think it comes from how clothes were made back then—mostly handmade and very detail-oriented, with ruffles and gathering,” he says. “It wasn’t ready-to-wear, it wasn’t mass-produced. No dress looks the same. It’s pretty similar to fine art.”

Hailing from San Diego, Morris originally had a mind to become a fashion designer. But the breakneck professional realities of the career, which Parsons is notorious for beating into their students, turned him off the path. “I didn’t see myself making quick ideas, it just wasn’t how I worked,” he says, adding that he prefers the “intimacy of working alone in a studio,” rather than in collaboration with a design team. Having grown up with an artist mother, he soon realized that hers was more the lifestyle he wished to emulate for himself.

‍

His first major foray into visual art was during Covid, when he’d decided to take the year off from college. With an artist friend, Stephanie Blackburn, he began fashioning a series lampshades, many featuring corset-like constructions and combining industrial neutrals with gem tones, creating a sort of harlequin-meets-steampunk take on decor. (The lampshades ultimately landed them a gallery show at Gern en Regalia in 2021.)  That body of work, and the experience of combining fashion-design know-how with one-of-a-kind art pieces, ultimately led him to the concept undergirding “Actress.”

‍

Still, there’s at least one quality inherent to his old world that Morris feels inclined to uphold as he embarks on future endeavors. “Fashion designers, they’re forced to innovate each season,” he reflects. “I’m thinking about my work that way. The next show I have, I want it to be completely different. But still me.”

‍

‍“Actress” is now on view through February 9, 2025 at Europa at 125 Division Street, New York, NY 10002.