the bustier is leaving the building ... the story behind the first eggshell dress

'eggshell dress ...' (2008)

me, removing my 'eggshell bustier...' from Renew Arts & Industry ...

the beginning .....

Just a few of the headlines from April 2007:

• College Student Guns Down Dozens in Virginia (April 16): Male student kills two in a Virginia Tech dorm. Two hours later, he kills 30 more in a classroom building before committing suicide. The shooting rampage is the most deadly in U.S. history. Fifteen others are wounded.

• Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Abortion Procedure (April 18): The ruling, 5–4, which upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, a federal law passed in 2003, is the first to ban a specific type of abortion procedure. Writing in the majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy said, "The act expresses respect for the dignity of human life."Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who dissents, called the decision "alarming" and said it is "so at odds with our jurisprudence" that it "should not have staying power."

• Earthquake and Tsunami Strike the Solomon Islands (April 3): Magnitude 8.0 earthquake and tsunami that follows kill at least 20 people and destroy villages.

• U.S. Squadron Hit by Suicide Bombers in Iraq (April 24): Nine U.S. soldiers are killed and at least 20 are wounded by two bombers attacking an American post in Diyala.

• Bombs Kill Nearly 200 in Baghdad (April 18): Five bombs targeting Shiite neighborhoods ravage the Iraqi capital in the worst violence in weeks. One bomb alone kills about 140 in Sadr City area.

• Bombs Kill Dozens in Algeria (April 11): Some 35 people are killed and hundreds are wounded when suicide bombers attack a government building in the capital, Algiers, and a police station on the outskirts of the capital. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claims responsibility for the attack.

It was April 2007 .... the Iraq war was a never ending quagmire, Mother Nature was making herself heard with Tsunamis, snow storms and tornados, taking lives and property, a male student went on a shooting spree on a collage campus and a good friend's marriage abruptly ended.               In April of 2007 I was feeling the fragility and pain of life quite clearly.  

As a way to deal with the overwhelming sense of loss and helplessness I headed to my studio.  

I had been collecting eggshells from my house and my neighbors, knowing  that they would be a beautiful and poignant material in which to create a dress, therefore I had a good collection of eggshells at my disposal. So as a way to center myself amongst all the craziness going in the world, I grabbed my eggshells and my hot glue gun and began building. I still remember thinking that the hot glue was so messy compared to the delicateness and fragility of the eggshells, but that dichotomy was appropriate for how I was feeling.

That first day of building was cathartic, I just grab whatever shell that was closest, I didn't think.   I didn't care if it was brown or white eggshell, I just needed to build something.  However the next day when I returned to my studio I was put off by the randomness of the colors of the shells; I didn't like it.  Yet I didn't want to start again,  I wanted to honor how the dress began. So to 'compromise' I started covering both the brown and white shells with smaller pieces of the opposite color shell, as a way of blending the two colors.  

And as happens so many times with my 'dressproject', my solution to camouflage the different color shells not only succeeded, but it also visually suggested lace.  I loved this suggestion but I had NOT planned it. This is the beautiful serendipity found in my 'dressproject'.

I continued to build the dress, embracing the messiness of the hot glue, using the ever-present wisps of hot glue to suggest dripping whites of the eggs.  While making this sculpture I needed to learn patience and mindfulness.  I learned the hard way not to just yank the hot glue gun's cord out of the wall, as it could and did go flying into the eggshell dress (clean up aisle 3).

Once the dress was finished I had the opportunity to exhibit it at the Natick Collection and the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA, 

the 'dressproject' at the Natick Collection, Natick, MA (2008)

where it got much attention ... 'look, those are eggshells?!?!?'

at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA (2008)

Unfortunately, even with a well thought-out and throughly cushioned mode of transport, the traveling was too much for the sculpture and once she returned from Watertown, she succumbed to gravity.

It was odd because the dress didn't break in transit.  It was a day or so after returning from Watertown. 

I was in my studio when I heard a very soft crinkling sound, almost undetectable.  I stopped what I was doing to investigate.  At this time my studio had a leaky ceiling and possible rodent residences, so I wanted to see what was making this sound.

As I walked around my studio, ears straining, I realized that the sound was coming from my eggshell dress?!?! As I got closer to the sculpture I understood that it was crumbling and there was nothing I could do about it.  I tried to save it but only was able to salvage the top ...

 

But there was much I loved about this sculpture ~ the patterning created by the mosaic of eggshell, the beauty of the eggshells themselves and most of all, I wanted to honor the 'place' from where the piece started, it was a physical expression of how crazy fragile life was. 

So instead of scrapping the entire piece, I created the 'eggshell bustier ...' which I exhibited at my solo shows at the Dana Hall School, 2008 and the Holliston High School, 2009, before in took up residency in the offices of One80Visuals/ Renew Arts and Industry, Natick, MA.

There, the 'eggshell bustier ...'  stayed, quietly crumbling, until last Friday when I gingerly removed it. I was pleasantly surprised how the piece still had some integrity and I was able to transfer it into a bin in one piece.  And today, as my daughter Harriet spied it in the backseat of my car, she insisted that I salvage the eggshell dress/bustier yet again because, "it has been so many places."

'this comes from with ...' (2009)
Medicine Wheel Productions, Boston, MA

So we will see where the bustier will go from here, but it did inspire my room installation/environment, 'this comes from within ...' which is a very good thing....

peace

#tbt: the story of 'paint-pot dress ... '

'paint-pot dress ...' 

I am honored to announce that  my 'paint-pot dress ...' was accepted into Cambridge Art Association's biennial exhibition, BLUE, which was juried by Katherine French, Gallery Director Catamount Arts, VT.   'lilith in blue ...' was part of Blue 2012-2013. 

'lilith in blue ...'

And as a way to celebrate this exciting news I am going to give the brief story of this dress' creation.  I have been wanting to return to my #tbt blog posts, telling the back-stories of the many dresses in my dressproject.  As I am review the scope of my 'dressproject' I am constantly amazed about how many the dresses have some kind of story, connection or interesting point of reflection.  Some are very poignant, such as 'dear jeff... ' and some are just fun, like this one.  

When looking at this photograph, many people are unsure about what makes up this dress, even knowing the title.  So to clarify, this dress is made out of the paint pots from watercolor sets, the basic watercolor sets that we all used in school and possibly use now.  

In 2013, I was substituting at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, MA.  I was covering the maternity leave of the Middle School's art teacher, and loving it.

One of our class projects was based around one point perspective and I had the students create a city street in perspective then color it with watercolor paints.  When we first pulled out the sets it was clear that they needed to be refreshed and replenished.  

This is one of the cool parts of being the art teacher, access to the art closet, full of endless art supplies and in this case, boxes of replacement pots of paint so that schools do not need to throw out an entire paint set if only one color is used up!! 

So during one free period I gathered all the paint sets and proceeded to pop out the pots that were nearly empty.  Soon my desk was covered with the old and new paint pots, all different colors and shades depending on the state of the paint.  As I worked, piling up more and more paint pots onto the desk, I knew that a dress needed to be made, and so I proceeded to cull together the blues and purples and made a dress.

Now here is the part of this dress' story that I most love ....  

I hadn't been substituting for too long, maybe a month or so, and I felt as if my advisors and I were still getting comfortable with each other. 

On the day I was cleaning the paint sets I had worked through lunch so when my advisors returned to the classroom after lunch for advisory, I was in the midst of my mess. As I scrambled to find the necessary papers and information for advisory, one of my advisors walked over to my desk and surveyed my mess and inquired what I was doing???

'Well,' I started to explain, 'I was cleaning up in the watercolor paint sets and needed to pop out the old paints so I could put in the fresh paint pot.  But once I saw all the pots of color and noted all the beautiful variations laying across my desk I just needed to make a dress out of them.' And almost before I finished my explanation she looked at me with a smile and stated in a matter-of-fact manner,

 'of course you did!' 

Then all my advisors came up and admired my handiwork and it was at that point that I felt completely welcomed.  They got me! 

link to info about the exhibit

 

peace

Dana Hall School: Artist-in-Residence Program at Dana Hall

Here is an article from the Dana Hall website about my time as artist in residence at Dana last spring. 

 Dana Hall School: Artist-in-Residence Program at Dana Hall

metamorphosis

 and some pictures from the two projects 

dresses for the giving and receiving dress

some of my work in the Fiber and Fashion exhibit

click here for more about metamorphosis 

and click here for more information about the giving and receiving dress

  

Dana's 'giving and receiving' dress is in the works

This week I have started another collaborative 'dress' with the Dana Hall Students, this time exclusively with the middle school.  And I am so excited because I am finally going to be able to create the 'giving and receiving' dress.

This dress is based on my dresstag practice, how I leave small, origami dresses, with good intentions or fortunes on them, in random places. If you follow me on instagram or Facebook you might have seen one or two pictures of these 'dresstags'.

For the 'giving and receiving' dress I am teaching the students how to make their own origami dresses and asking them to write their own fortune/intention on the back.  The response has been wonderful.  I am leaving extra origami paper in the art room so students can come in and make more dresses.  

I am hoping for a great number because I am going to use the small origami dresses that the students make to construct a large dress form on a wall in the school.  Once the dress is created on the wall, then the students will be invited to take a dresstag, which will deconstruct the large wall dress.  Also each student will get a dress with a good fortune on it ~ giving and receiving.

So my collection of dresses is growing and the fortunes that I have seen are priceless.  This is what I love about collaborative projects ~ everyone comes to the project with their own, unique gifts, opinions, thoughts and ideas.  Some of these fortunes I would never have thought of and I love them!!! 

A particular favorite is "may this dress keep the monsters in their own closet!" ~ priceless.

metamorphosis, the whole story, in pictures

'metamorphosis' modeled at Dana Hall Fashion Show

In February I participated in the exhibit "Fiberarts and Fashion" at the Dana Hall School.  

In conjunction to that show I was invited to create a collaborative project/dress 

with the student body that would be presented at the Dana Hall Fashion Show.  

The end product: 'metamorphosis'

it all started with a white dress

found at the thrift shop

objective: to create a dress/project that involved the entire student body of  Dana Hall

I wanted to create an opportunity for the students to reflect on their place in the world, as students of a very challenging and scholarly girl's school.  As I pondered the concept behind the dress, I came across 'Chrysalis', the story of Maria Sibylla Merian and the project fell in place.  

The idea of metamorphosis felt akin to my desires for the project; during middle school and high school there is a metamorphosis, students discovering their desires, strengths and passions while facing fears, and then 'emerging' as adults.  I wanted to offer the students a platform in which they could pause and reflect on their personal journey.

so I tea dyed it

first, i realized the dress was too white

and I painted, dyed and cut the original dress.

 then I took everything to Dana Hall.

I set-up in the gallery.

the first day I cut out 500+ butterflies

then Michael Frassinelli and I divided the butterflies into to envelopes for each advisory group.

 with this prompt:

As part of a collaborative project for the Dana Art Gallery, Artist-in-Residence Virginia Fitzgerald has been working with students and invites you to contribute this morning to the creation of a sculptural dress which will be worn in the Spring Fashion Show and exhibited afterwards in the Library. Each advisor group has a packet containing cut paper butterflies and Sharpie markers.  Each student is asked to simply write a word, phrase or short sentence, or simple image reflecting a wish, a dream, an inspiration, a memory, or fear on one of the pieces of paper. This can be written in any language, in any style, on any subject (personal, family, school related, etc.); these should be anonymous andthere is no wrong way to express yourself. When finished please return the pieces of paper and markers to the envelope and have a member or the advisory drop them off to the gallery. Thanks so much for you participation. Stop by the gallery throughout the week and after the Break to see how your words and images will be incorporated into the sculpture, or stop by and work with Ms. Fitzgerald directly. All are invited. Thank you for supporting the arts.

the next day I had 500+  emotionally charged butterflies

then the fun began . . .

the middle school student came and helped me  . . .

they made cocoons, with wax, glitter and more intentions rolled up inside

and they helped me outline each butterfly with black ink

and then they painted each butterfly with glitter medium to reenforce the paper

I continued to 'personalize' the dress. here I soaked the bottom in ink

the students also wrote on the dress, adding to the pattern/design

I used the india ink to create a vein like pattern on the top of the dress

there were many heart felt messages on the butterflies

during the week I was working at the school Mr. Fraz found this butterfly on the ground :)

It was very interesting to see all the different ideas, thoughts, 

dreams, fears and desires that were written on the butterflies. 

As I attached each one to the dress 

I wondered what kind of response I would have received 

if I did a similiar project with a boys school?!?!? 

then it was time for me to pack up ~

back to my studio (well, really my home, sorry girls).

 Here I attached everything to the dress ~ 

butterflies and cocoons.  

I sewed many layers of strips of tulle and netting, 

then attached all the butterflies.

 

I added grommets on each side so it could fit whatever student that would be wearing it in the Fashion Show

This is the first dress that I made that someone else 

was going to wear.  During the Fashion Show I felt like 

I might have been on Project Runway ~ 

nervous if the dress would fit and present well 

and I found myself saying that my model was at 'hair and make-up' :)

any thoughts Tim Gunn??

As I was adding the layers and butterflies my own forest nymph modeled the dress for me,

this way I could see how the dress hung ~

and how it moved.

Monday morning was the Fashion Show and my model rocked the dress! 

spinning and letting all the Dana Hall student's dreams and desires take flight 

and their fears just fly away.  

Thank you Dana Hall for supporting and participating so fully in this dress/project.  

As always it was a wonderful and enriching experience for me 

and I hope it was for you too!!

'metamorphosis' modeled at Dana Hall Fashion Show