Ingvill Fossheim

Research Summary:

My research is located at the intersection of contemporary costume design, systems thinking, and biobased material development. Through costume design praxis my research explores ways in which biobased colourants can afford aesthetic qualities to an artistic work, as well as induce meaning and value beyond the scope of the live performative event. As doctoral candidate at Aalto ARTS I am affiliated with the research groups Costume in Focus and Fashion/Textile Futures, and I work in the Academy of Finland funded research project BioColour – Biobased Dyes and Pigments for Colour Palette.

Biography:

Ingvill Fossheim, MA, is a costume designer and scenographer, and a doctoral candidate at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. She designs for live performance and mediated works, including contemporary dance, opera, live- & performance art, theatre, and audio plays; in purposebuilt as well as adapted and/or reclaimed performance spaces. By exploring ways to interrogate biobased materials and to incorporate systems knowledge as part of contemporary performance-making processes, she develops new ground for her artistic praxis and contributes to the critical discourse on materiality in the field more broadly. She seeks to orient her design praxis towards a more responsible, resilient and regenerative material approach. She completed MA degree studies in Costume Design at Aalto University in 2019 and is alumni of Central St Martins College (MA Scenography, 2007) and Rose Bruford College (BA Theatre Design, 2005).

Supervising professor: Sofia Pantouvaki

Thesis advisors: Julia Lohmann, Tanja Beer (external)

Production photograph, A Prologue (2020), choreographer Jenni-Elina von Bagh, costume designer Ingvill Fossheim. Biobased colourants incl. woad and fermented berries on repurposed human hair, hemp, linen, and cellulose matter. Photographer: Katri Naukkarinen