TENSION began as a design challenge. How could one create a collection out of upcycled materials without using conventional fabric?

Originally, found objects made of wire and plastic were intended to shine in this collection through textured industrial weaving. Inspired by Duchamp’s “The Wheel”,  found objects were to be fixed to these woven garments in order to illustrate their pointlessness. When this level of creative hoarding became difficult to manage, Eleanor reflected to other materials from her childhood. Tire inner tubes grew strong in her mind from her time growing up in Minnesota. In experimenting with cutting them apart, she found many variations in shape and drape within the existing radial shape of the rubber. 

When the collection was first constructed, Eleanor found therapeutic practice in slowly and methodically weaving the shapes together. Despite finishing the collection for the Pratt Show as her senior thesis, she felt she had more work to do. Throughout the next seven years, she reworked the collection into what she originally intended – claiming victory over her original challenge.