TESTIMONY

At the foundation of Shawn Baron Pinckney’s practice is a reverence for the transformative power of clothing as it holds symbolic meaning. Through his work, clothing becomes a metaphor for the ability to transcend boundaries defined by outside forces. Fashion becomes a powerful form of projection. In his current practice, Pinckney uses garments as a means of lowering defenses in the viewer which allows for the facilitation of difficult conversations around gender, race, and class. His work juxtaposes symbolically loaded fabrics with traditional cuts to form a conversation about how clothing can change our perspective of societally imposed definition of identity. 

Born in Philadelphia, artist Shawn Baron Pinckney studied tailoring at the Craft Fashion Institute of Philadelphia. Pinckney was raised around a group of women who used the act of fabricating clothes as a means of forging and participating in community.