“The Labor We Wear” highlights the relationship among the garment industry, garment laborers, and fashion consumers. In utilizing used clothing to create her installations, Rachel Breen holds us, the consumers of fashion, complicit in the troublesome cycle of garment production and consumption—from dangerous factory conditions to problems caused by textile waste. Breen makes these relationships visible in order to find ways to break the toxic chain.

To learn more about consuming fast fashion, click here to download a list of resources compiled by the artist.

Breen holds an MFA from the University of Minnesota and an undergraduate degree from Evergreen State College. She has been a community organizer for social justice organizations throughout the country and is a cofounder of Jewish Community Action in Minnesota. Breen is the recipient of four Minnesota State Arts Board grants, the Walker Art Center’s Open Field fellowship, and the 2019–2020 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship.

This exhibition is part of the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program, now located in U.S. Bank Gallery.

Generous support for MAEP provided by:

Additional support provided by RBC Wealth Management and anonymous donors.