Yuan Liu’s research involved studying the floods in the Mississippi River Basin and creating design storms to analyze hypothetical precipitation, flooding, and potential drainage systems. Liu also mentioned the relationship between the atmospheric water and the groundwater. Aakriti Bagchi responded to this work by portraying an abstracted map of the Mississippi River Basin through patchwork of indigo-dyed cotton fabric across the front bodice. Bagchi interpreted the atmospheric water in the form of ruffled chiffon with embroidered, blue yarn running through it loosely and ultimately flowing down into the ground. Each panel of indigo fabric was chosen to represent the different parts of the Mississippi River Basin and signature characteristics. The garment was designed to be messy with chaotic yarns running in all directions to mirror the unpredictable and violent nature of floods.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Aakriti Bagchi is a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison majoring in Fashion and Textile Design with a concentration on Apparel Design and a certificate in Sustainability. Bagchi graduated third in her class from the High School of Fashion Industries in New York City, NY and is a current undergraduate Posse Scholar. She is the Vice President of the Apparel and Textile Association, an active member of the ASM Sustainability Committee, and a House Fellow for the Greenhouse Learning Community in Leopold Residential Hall.
ABOUT THE Water Partner
Yuan Liu is a third-year PhD student at UW-Madison with a major in Civil Environmental Engineering. His advisor is Dr. Daniel Wright. Liu’s research mainly focuses on developing stochastic tools to create design rainfall events for the Lower Mississippi River Basin. In his research, he uses advanced statistical methods, high-resolution precipitation datasets, as well as high-performance computing! More information about our lab can be found here.
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