Oma Gertrude A Visualisation Of Alzheimer’s

A photo essay and graduation project on memory loss and constructing garments as a form of communication; a student of fashion design witnesses his grandmother, a former seamstress, grapple with memory loss due to Alzheimer’s and sees in the loss an opportunity for creating the unexpected:

“Talking didn’t get me very far, so we needed to transcend spoken words. Oma Gertrude used to be a seamstress, and with this, we found a common ground of communication. Although muddled and misperceived, she still had some technical understanding. Oma Gertrude became a language that helped me reconnect with my grandmother.

Together, we sat down to work with our hands and experiment. With a little of my help, oma Getrude was free to put together disassembled clothing items based solely to her altered perception of right and wrong. Although she didn’t remember the ‘correct’ way of constructing garments, she was still constructing garments.

My experience only provided a glimpse of her perspective and couldn’t fully capture the depth of her way of seeing. With Oma Gertrude I visualise Alzheimer’s according to oma Gertrude and make (non)sense of her (non)sense.”

This cooperation and the resulting garments are documented in the form of text fragments, photographs, collages, handwritten notes and sketches.

Book design by Sophia Beckmann, saddle-stitched with uncut creep edge, 25 x 20 cm, 152 pages, Amsterdam 2023