F ilipino artist Marina Cruz is known for her nostalgic and photorealistic mixed-media creations of old dresses from her family. Cruz has received multiple awards, including the grand prize of the Philippine Art Awards in 2008. In addition, the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei recently mounted her first major museum solo show in 2021, with other institutional exhibitions featuring her works, including the Yu-Hsiu Museum of Art and Mind Set Art Center in Taipei. Cruz first began painting vintage dresses made by her grandmother in 2002 as a university student after coming across her mother's old baptismal dress.

The present work likely depicts one of them. The painting, incorporating embroidery as the dress's patterning, is a delicate and poignant homage to her grandmother's hand-sew technique compared to the modern age of mass-produced fashion. The threads exude an elevated tactility while documenting the passing of time and commemorating its wearer through the traces of use as a meditation of the artist's life. Against a solid black background, the dress further presents itself as an heirloom, paying homage to the legacies of three generations of women: her grandmother, the maker of the dresses; her mother and aunt, the wearers; and herself, who turn them timeless in her art while celebrating the feminine strength that thrives through the unyielding love of mothers and the bittersweet bond they share with their daughters.

菲律賓藝術家瑪麗娜·克魯斯以懷舊而具攝影寫實風格的混合媒體創作見稱，她最著名的作品，就是以家裡流傳下來的舊裙子為題材。克魯斯曾獲取多項殊榮，包括2008年獲頒菲律賓藝術大賞獎的最高榮譽獎。除此以外，台北的關渡美術館更於2021年為她舉辦個展，是克魯斯首場大型博物館個展；而同在台灣的毓繡美術館及安卓藝術等其他展覽機構，亦展出了她的作品。

克魯斯開始繪畫懷舊經典裙裝的契機源於2002年，當時仍為大學生的她偶然找到她母親舊時的洗禮裙。本作描繪的的裙子，很大可能就是其中一條。克魯斯特意於畫作中加上刺繡作為畫中裙的花紋，巧妙地向她外祖母的手工縫紉技巧致敬，在現今習慣批量生產成衣的世代中，這些手藝格外別緻迷人。畫中一針一線讓作品的觸感得以昇華，同時紀錄了時間流逝。透過呈現裙子的使用痕跡，克魯斯亦向曾經穿著過它的人致敬。在純黑的背景下，裙子尤為突出，成為了珍而重之的家傳之寶。藝術家以此作品反思自己的人生外，亦同時向家中三代女性致敬：製作裙子的外祖母、曾經穿著裙子的母親及姨母，以及藝術家自己。她把三代人長留於她的藝術作品中，歌頌母親對女兒永不止息的愛所帶來的女性力量，以及母女之間甜苦交沁的連繫。