By Jessica Hayek | Staff Writer
The Parodi Costume Collection in Edgewater is currently exhibiting “In Praise of Ma,” an ode to traditional Japanese aesthetics that displays garments by Comme des Garçons, Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto. Within the exhibition is a Zen garden, where a half mannequin wearing a Comme des Garçons dress from the Fall/Winter 2014 collection acts as a rock in the garden.
In homage to Comme des Garçons avant-garde runway wigs by Julian d’Ys, the mannequin wears a wig created by Briana Angulo-Madueño, a recent Florida International University’s Alum. Angulo-Madueño was pitched by the museum’s curation team to create a custom wig. After researching the best approach, they chose raw sheep’s wool as the medium.
As soon as the project was approved, Angulo-Madueño got to work mapping out the metal armature, attaching it to the wig’s cap, and once completed, came into the museum to put the final pieces together.
They said, “The wool in itself was really sticky. Some parts were threaded together to keep in place, but it was mostly working with the material and shaping it by hand.”
Born in a small desert beach town called Ilo, Peru, Angulo-Madueño is a 22-year-old year old artist who moved to Miami to attend FIU in 2021. They graduated in December 2025 with a BA in women and gender studies, a BFA in studio art and a minor in art history.
When asked about their choice to study art, they said, “I was going with my instincts.”
Some of their earlier work was inspired by the body and sexuality through their studies on women and gender, explored through figure drawing.
Angulo-Madueño said, “Later on, when I delved deeper into sculpture and video art, that is where my inspiration shifted into more conceptual ideas.”
They continued, “It was a little more existential, trying to understand my own position in this country, or the performance of being an American.”
After studying Jose Esteban Muñoz’s theory of disidentification—a queer theory that explores how marginalized groups survive and resist dominant, heteronormative ideologies—they created a documentary that archived the nightlife of the young queer people in Miami.
It was a part of a series Angulo-Madueño called “(sphere II) alharaca,” and when presented, they said, “It sucked.” They continue, “The audio was really bad. The footage and the conversations flowed, but I had never worked with video before.”
(Sphere II) Alharaca installation. A student wearing headphones connected to a television, watching the video installation. Image provided by Briana Angulo-Madueño.
After the project’s sound failure, they delved deep into learning about sound technology. During that process, an opportunity arose, leading to an internship at a recording studio. As of post-graduation, they have been promoted and work as a sound engineer, finding possibilities in their setbacks.
Outside of their work at the recording studio, they continue to develop their sculptural and performance work, including the wig at the Parodi Costume Collection. “I felt honored to be a part of the exhibition, especially knowing that the piece is displayed with a Comme des Garçons dress,” Angulo-Madueño said.
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