Wearable Art 2022
This years piece is called Reiteration.
I was inspired by my previous wearable pieces using upcycled paper bags, my paper bag shoes, paper bag kitchen witch as well as the image of the Witch.
The evidence for the systemic efforts to stamp out traditional, medicinal and natural practices over the last 600 years or so is overwhelming. Strong, independent individuals (predominantly women) who used intuition and earth energies and resources as a means to heal and communicate were hunted, demonized and burnt alive. The death toll during the witch trials era make it very hard to view it as anything less than an oppressive and manipulating movement. Reclaiming our sovrenity and our rights and re-empower fundamental freedoms, we are given an opportunity to revisit and rethink some of the historical "truths" we've been conditioned to believe. This is a time when we need to revive our inner "Witch" (strong, independent selves) and take back our right to believe, pray and honor in any way we choose without fear of being condemned, judged or dismissed.
For me, this piece speaks to the reclaiming of the creative self power as well as a visual iteration that even though its been harvested, processed and exploited, paper bags (witch) come from the forest (earth) and will return to it.
Throughout my process of having friends and family collect all their paper bags over the last 4 months or so, mentally visualizing and putting creation into action, I honestly got discouraged several times. Deconstructed and reconstructed several times and almost gave up several times. This seems to be part of the process. It's important to recognize that self doubt is a natural occurrence of creation and it is all about pushing through. Just keep going or stop , step back and wait for another inspired moment and then keep going.
Photo courtesy of event attendee
The flowers were probably the most intensive and time consuming. they involved cutting small strips and then curling and individually gluing tight then cutting them in half and then gluing them again into round for the center of the sunflowers. The inner petals are also cut shaped , cut and glued before being attached and the outer petals are cut, shaped and individually folded before attaching. Each flower took roughly 3 hours to make. The roses I made also took a lot of time but didn't make it onto my outfit so I held them during the finale and gave them out in the lobby to anyone who expressed their interest in my piece. So that worked out :D
The other smaller flowers were made from 5 individually folded and glued pieces put together.
I think I had the most challenges with the base as I don't actually have a separate form to build upon so I had to keep trying it on. I knew once I had a good base I could then decorate it. I did the best with what I had to work with and am overall happy with the results.
I built this piece on a bra I picked up at the thrift store so it is entirely made of paper bags and attaches with a couple random fabric strips and some key velcro spots. The wig/hair is also made completely of packaging paper. I did include a wrist and arm band and papered up an old pair of flats.
Photo courtesy of event attendee
Photo courtesy of event attendee
Thanks to Karen Wasilenchuk for capturing my performance and sharing it!
Photo courtesy of event attendee
There were 15 participating artists this year with lots of varying concepts and materials.
The 3 judging categories were
- Creative Upcycling
- Originality
- Performance
Photo courtesy of event attendee
Image by Sarmad Almouallem
Image by Sarmad Almouallem
Image by Sarmad Almouallem
Image by Sarmad Almouallem
I wanted to get a few shots of my piece in the forest. These were the 2 images that I think captures the essence of my concept.
Both images were taken by me.
Wearable Art Fashion Show Event Hosted by
