For my costume designs for Medea, I wanted to embrace the mythic grandeur of the story and lean fully into its fantastical potential. My goal was to build a world that felt ancient yet heightened—rooted in history but unmistakably stylized. During my research, I became particularly drawn to the surfaces of historical Greek pottery, especially how time creates fractures and cracks across their painted figures. I began to see these cracks as a visual metaphor for the emotional ruptures within the play, and I incorporated this imagery into my designs as if the garments themselves were weary armor splintering under the pressure of the unfolding tragedy.

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For the wealthy characters, I elevated their status through rich, luxurious materials—velvets, gold accents, and jewel-like embellishments that communicated power, privilege, and opulence. I also assigned each wealthy character an animal or motif based on their status and narrative role. In developing these elements, I researched African-to-Greek trade routes to ensure that the prints, materials, and influences I selected would feel accessible and grounded in historical exchange. The resulting designs blend fragments of historical costuming with the imaginative vocabulary of the fantastical world I wanted to create.

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In contrast, the lower-class characters inhabit a more muted palette, stripped of bright hues and grounded in earth tones—colors they could realistically source from their environment. Instead of the elaborate, gilded “cracked pottery” surface of the upper class, their visual language is inspired by terracotta: warm, raw, and humble. These choices allowed me to clearly differentiate social status while reinforcing the thematic fractures that run through the entire play.

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Through these designs, I aimed to craft a visual landscape that honors Medea’s ancient roots while reimagining its world through texture, symbolism, and mythic stylization.

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11x17 Bristol Paper, Gouache, Watercolor, Markers, Colored Pencils, Gouache, Acrylic Paint, Gold Leaf, and Rainbow Flakes