wearable art

I really like the idea of wearable art.  Art should be integrated into our everyday lives rather than be relegated to dusty, old museums (though, I really enjoy going to museums; I just don’t think that art should only be found there) and stuffy galleries.  And, why can’t fashion and wearable art be sisters?

 

 

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

 

 

 

 

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

deconstructing pierott

2008
3’6”x1’6”, dimensions vary
chicken wire, feather trim, tulle, ribbon, paper, jingle bells

deconstructing pierott is a wearable art piece that deconstructs the idea of the pierrot from commedia dell’arte while simultaneously referencing late 19th and early 20th century women acrobats and gesturing at the movie Prophecy. In its deconstruction, this piece also addresses the issue of being female, its restrictions, and the way in which women, even today, are displayed. The piece also jingles when it is worn to replicate the sound of the zany and the capering of the pierott.

 

 

 

 

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

 

untitled, or under constraint

2007

3’6”x1’6”

dimensions vary handmade cotton, flax, and abaca paper, brass hardware, nylon webbing, floral mesh, fabric, ribbon, copper wire and copper sheet

untitled or, under constraint was a collaborative piece made for the Mary Todd Lincoln Paper Dress Project. My partner, Ian D. Smith, and I collaborated on the design. I made the paper and stitched the dress together. This dress was meant to highlight Mary Todd Lincoln’s role as President Lincoln’s military advisor as well as her uniqueness as a woman with education in a time when women usually didn’t and the time she spent in a sanitarium, not because she was insane, but because she “couldn’t handle her money”. And, it’s steampunk.

 

 

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chimera:  Griffin

2008
3’x1’6”, dimensions vary
fabric, paper, collaged elements, crocheted elements, feather trim, purchased wings

chimera:  Griffin is part of a larger series which is concerned with identity construction as well as performative objects and, again, references Alice in Wonderland.  This piece, when worn, blinds the wearer.  As it restricts sight and, therefore, motion, chimera:  Griffinbecomes dependent upon it companion piece, chimera:  Mock-Turtle.

 

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chimera:  Mock-Turtle

2007
10’x4’6”, dimensions vary
fabric, paper, collaged elements, crocheted elements, dryer hose, brass O-rings,
nylon webbing

chimera:  Mock-Turtle is part of a larger series which is concerned with identity construction as well as performative objects and, again, references Alice in Wonderland.  This piece, when worn, is like wearing a turtle shell.  It restricts movement and, if the wearer is taller than five feet, forces the wearer to hunch over.  Aside from the ritualistic feel of this worn-object, it is also a companion piece to chimera:  Griffin.

 

 

 

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chimera:  Alice

2007

6’x2’6”, dimensions vary
fabric, paper, collaged elements, crocheted elements, plastic doll heads, porcelain
teacup

chimera:  Alice is part of a larger series which is concerned with identity construction as well as performative objects and references Alice in Wonderland.  This piece is reminiscent of a Victorian tea-hat or a church-crown and was the first of the chimera series that became a performative object.

 

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taxonomy:  Ripley

2006

1’6”x8”, dimensions vary
copper with an ammonia patina, copper with a liver of sulfur patina, gessoed copper, silver, amber

Another worn object, taxonomy:  Ripley references Aliens and Babylon 5 while maintaining a “fairy princess” feel.  This piece hybridizes both butterfly and mosquito forms to create a neckpiece that acts as armor and ornament.

 

 

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taxonomy:  Newt

2006
5”x3”
copper with an ammonia patina, handmade cotton paper, yarn

Aside from being a worn object, taxonomy:  Newt is part of process series in which, before the “arms” of the piece were soldered together, cotton replicas were cast to create paperNewts.  These pieces combine aspects of both spiders and orchids to create a grotesque hybrid form which references by name, as well as the piece’s sense of skittering motion,Aliens.