Cassi-Jo Davis, @cassijoart.totembohemia is an amazing textile artist from Bridgetown, Western Australia, who has built a creative practice based on collecting and recreating with vintage and upcycled textiles.

Since studying Visual Art at Curtin University, majoring in Textiles and minoring in Painting, Cassi-Jo has been a practising artist for more than two decades with standout works including wall pieces that resemble garments. During this time, Cassi-Jo has been an avid upcycler creating extraordinary art and making clothing from textile remnants and has recently stepped up to develop her own label Totem Bohemia

For the EFWA 2024 Upcycling Challenge, Cassi-Jo has a plan to save an out-of-fashion wedding dress from landfill and turn it into a piece of wearable art that is beautiful to look at but tells a more sinister story. “By unpicking and recutting the garment and by adding my form of textile art – imagery made from precious antique textile remnants, paint and freehand embroidery – my design demonstrates how one-wear garments can be remade into beautiful garments that are wearable textile art works. The theme of this piece will be on early female emigration in Australia during colonisation. Thousands of women were sent to Australia from the UK and Ireland between 1837 and 1890 on the ‘Bride Ships’, their sole purpose was to provide domestic services and marry to boost the population of a fledgling settlement. “Their stories are harrowing and deserve to be told,“ Cassi-Jo said.

“I only use upcycled and vintage textile remnants and deconstructed unwanted clothing in my work. I do this to keep textile waste from landfill. Not only is fast fashion responsible for textile pollution, but textiles of all forms. New fabric bought on the roll, upholstery waste, interior design items such as bedding and cushions are all part of the problem.“

See more of Cassi-Jo’s fabulous textile reinventions on Instagram @cassijoart.totembohemia