Prairie gothic

Abstract

Prairie Gothic is my understanding of how I have been shaped by experiences of grief and mourning, informed by aesthetics of the Midwest and Western landscape. My research is based on mourning adornment and dress from the Victorian period (approx. 1820-1914), and its impact on Midwest and Western American culture from the perspective of the working class. As the customs surrounding mourning were extravagant in every way, the typical working-class person could not afford to express their love and mourn with gold, diamonds and silk. The objects I have come across in my research express a kind of sentimentality that allows people to express and contain their grief in these objects as a form of art. Everyday materials that are typically overlooked can become reliquaries containing memories and information about the deceased. It is these materials that I used in my work to highlight the importance of family and love.