Lesley Asare

I am a storyteller.

I am fascinated by the ability to a create world and communicate a story in space; be that space the squared centimeters of a canvas, the inches of a TV screen, the frame of a photograph or the black space of a stage.

The MA Costume Design for performance course has enabled me to explore relationship between the body, costume and space through the development of performance pieces that hold costume at the centre of its performance. It is the transformation of the costume on the body that communicates a narrative.

The opportunity to collaborate with fellow students, performers as well as established practitioners within contemporary performance practice has been invaluable.


About the Work:

The Performer in Time and Space:
‘Hollow Woman’ is a costume based performance piece that I collaboratively developed with Amy Smith (dancer) and Liana Nyquist (choreographer) within a performance workshop at the Cochrane Theatre on 5th January 2011.

Having been inspired by the recent birth of my sister Eliana and the unexpected complications that arose during her birth, I focused my research on the traumatic experiences mothers face as a result of stillbirths.

Costume on Film:
The short film “Atrophy of the Mind” was based on the character of Ranyevskaya from the Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. My interpretation focuses on the instability that accompanies change and ideas surrounding the divided self.
(Performer: Azadeh Hussain)

Masters Project:

iShape Beauty

“When you look at your body what do you see?”
Indigo Williams

Shapes/curves.
Different shades of brown.
Scars and blemishes.
I see myself.
-Lesley Asare

Inspired by insecurities an interview for Indigo Williams (Poet) revealed, Lesley Asare explores the effects of Western Beauty Ideals on her perception of beauty, in specific relation to the acceptance of her body shape and size.

The ‘iShape Beauty’ project as a whole reveals the psychological effects clothing can have on an individual. While a tailor-made garment worn in Ghana can cause one to feel completely at home in their own skin, the standardized clothing sizes of the West may leave one feeling alien to themselves.

This costume based performance explores the ways through which women add, subtract, lift, and mould themselves to satisfy the observers both within and outside of themselves. It questions what lies beneath the surface when each layer of skin of is peeled away.