Stepping into one of Alison Hermon’s living room is like stepping through the rabbit hole; in a darkened room, dresses hover, lit from within, eerily still as birdsong plays gently in the background. This are, of course, not Alison’s usual living arrangements: the room is set up to exhibit Melodies Unheard, one of many collections of beautiful dresses that she creates entirely from recycled plastics, including the humble supermarket carrier bag.
If you haven’t seen her work, the mention of plastic bags may bring awful Blue Peter sticky-tape-and-loo-roll type creations to mind. However, I can assure you that this is a million miles away from the enchanting, almost ethereal beauty of Alison’s delicate pieces.
Alison has been working with plastic since attending a weekend course on experimental textiles, where she began using melting to create forms. Her initial (unsuccessful) attempts involved melting plastics onto the body, until she had a ‘Eureka!’ moment whilst looking at one of the bin liners she was working with: it already looked very much like a piece of clothing, so why not start from there?
Since then Alison has worked with plastics from varied sources: supermarkets, florists and even nappy sacks have provided material for her works. Alison isn’t put off by her materials’ humble beginnings, “In a way, the lowlier the source, the more challenging the transformation!” she says. Alison uses a domestic iron to melt together different plastics for her creations, and draws on her own personal experiences for inspiration, turning the everyday into something remarkable.
The titles of her exhibitions – ‘Re-Imagined Worlds’, ‘Frozen Memories’ – give you an idea of what Alison is about. She works with her head placed firmly in the past, conjuring scenes and stories from moments in her life. Inspired by memories and her imagination, her work examines the memories and identities that clothes can hold and ‘acts as a metaphor for recycling thoughts as well as ideas and styles linked to particular personal experiences’.
In the fast paced world of fashion last season’s 
frocks are forgotten before you can say ‘new collection’ it’s refreshing to be reminded that many of our purchases do leave us with more than just an empty bank account and a lingering feeling of regret. Alison reminds us that clothes are not only things to be acquired and exhibited, but also invaluable artefacts from our own personal histories – after all, no matter what momentous occasion it was, chances are you were wearing something.
Contact Alison via her website at www.alisonhermon.co.uk .
by Amy Sandiford-Watts
