Welcome to the World Of WearableArt (WOW)

The Montana World of WearableArt (WOW®) is one of the most prestigious art and fashion competitions in the world, creating an extraordinary theatrical show like no other. The idea was discovered by Nelson sculptor, Suzie Moncrieffe, who dreamed up a concept to ‘take art off the wall’ and showcase each creation on the human form and in a dramatic setting. Described as “a world where art and the human form combine in a sensory feast of amazing sound scapes, stunning lighting, dance and drama,” the show attracts designers from all facets of the creative industry all over the world, and receives over 300 entrants per year competing to be in the top 35 finalists – and ultimately, to be in the show itself.

“Athletes have the Olympics, actors have the Oscars, musicians have the Grammies, and designers and costume creators have WOW®”

(all above photos source)

This year’s 2009 Winner Supreme Montana WOW Award and Winner Tourism NZ Avant Garde Section was an 18th Century-style ball gown made entirely of all-American timbers titled: Lady Of The Wood. The dress comprised of mahogany and lacewood with 52 strips of maple and cedar for the skirt and topped with a wig made of wood shavings. It was the first international entry to take the crown at the awards, and was made by Alaskan carpenter, David Walker, who has been making wearable art for over 10 years.

2009 Winner Supreme Montana WOW Award & Winner Tourism NZ Avant Garde Section

Lady Of The Wood, David Walker, Alaska, USA

Other category winners and runner-ups included:

2009 Runner Up Wellington International Award & Commended Gen-i Creative Excellence Section, Theme: Fold

Second Skin, Hayley May & Fiona Christie, Wellington

2009 Winner Booker Spalding First Time Entrant Award & Runner Up American Express Open Section

Lagarus Ovatus En Masse, Catherine Anderton, Wellington

2009 Winner Untouched World WOW Factor Award

Firebird, Susan Holmes, Auckland

2009 Winner Shell Sustainability Award

Queen Adelaide, Emma Whiteside, Wellington

2009 Runner Up Gen – i Creative Excellence Section, Theme: Fold

Behind Closed Doors, Kathryn Preston & Angie Robinson, Christchurch

(all above photos source)

I have to mention last year’s overall winner of the Montana WOW awards entitled: Ornitho Maia (Bird Mother). Designed by Wellington costume technician, Nadine Jaggi, she describes her creation as “an ethereal protector of the beautiful feathered creatures of our world.” I am absolutely in love with the intricate details, and it is obvious to see the painstaking amount of effort that has gone into carving out each and every leaf, curl, feather and texture on this truly amazing work of art.

2008 Winner Montana Supreme WOW Award & Winner Air NZ Sth Pacific Section

Ornitho Maia, Nadine Jaggi, Wellington

I also have to mention that one of my closest friends modelled in the exquisite garment for this photoshoot. These photos were sent away as part of the application process (thanks Cee for providing me with these amazing pics!). Doesn’t she look absolutely amazing in it? :o)

Introducing…Supermarket Sarah!

One of the best things I love about shopping at flea markets and vintage stores is the visual feast they offer when you step inside their realm of randomness and ‘organised chaos’. While some people may feel overwhelmed or put -off by the over crowded racks of mix-matched fabrics, the unexpected curios, and general hodgepodge and confusion…I feel instantly drawn to it all with my large magpie eyes and little hands rubbing together with glee!

Thanks to online shopping websites such as Ebay and Etsy, there is an even bigger marketplace for people to sell and buy recycled goods and unique, handmade pieces. But they don’t offer nowhere near the same creative aesthetic or visual stimulation as the real shopping experience…until I came across Supermarket Sarah.

Supermarket Sarah is an online vintage store quite unlike any I’ve seen before. It opens up into the living room wall of owner, Sarah Bagner, which is decorated with an assorted mix of the old and the new, the weird and the wonderful, and other selected pieces that she has collected or sourced from all over England. It’s almost like stepping into a real-life store, except instead of rummaging through racks and overflowing boxes, you get to enjoy perusing her wall of goodies instead. All you need to do to select an item of interest is click the item with your mouse to examine it in further detail and read its description. The store accepts all the usual online payment methods, and you if you require more information about the item you just send her a quick email – easy peasy!

Sarah’s wall display changes regularly, and each time it is themed to keep her walls looking fresh and interesting. For London Fashion Week, she has asked extraordinary art director, Fred Butler, to guest curate her supermarket wall (see above), and has a few more projects with other artists up her sleeve. Not bad for someone who decided to leave the corporate world behind her and set up shop inside her own living room! A truly inspirational story and online store combined!

MOMA (Part 1) – Black and White

One of the things I was really excited about doing in New York was to visit the art galleries and museums. They are great sources of inspiration and it is always exciting to see what new and established artists and designers are creating. After having studied fashion I was interested to see what major trends I would discover, such as as colour palettes, shapes, graphics and prints, objects and so on. I had a quick chat with my Trends and Forcasting tutor, Lise Strathdee, an amazing woman who’s done some fantastic work in fashion/design/art/interior (the list goes on…check out her website: Lisestrathdee.com) before I left for New York and she gave me a few tips on what to check out.

We visited the Museum Of Modern Arts (MOMA) on a Friday after 4pm, as it was free admission (yes, cheapskates I know) and boy was it was chocka! There were plenty of exhibitions to see and lots to photograph so I’ve decided to divide my pics (as well as some of Marie’s and Celeste’s) into 4 separate groups: Black and White; Texture; Colours and Prints; and Objects of Interest.

A wall of framed black on white shapes, each of them different from one another. I wouldn’t mind having 9 (3×3) placed on my wall.

An interesting combination of black and white abstract images and symbols (man, nature, bacteria…).

A clever combination of miniature images of ‘people signs’ to make up picture of a man’s face. Click on the image to see a close up :o)

A striking display of the kitchen’s most dangerous of tools…knives. This took up an entire wall (had to wait patiently for people to get out of the way to get a clear shot), quite fitting for a wall of a restaurant or kitchen.

This is a close up of what an entire room was covered in from wall to ceiling – these intricately detailed drawings (each ‘brick’ about the size of handspan), which look to be telling a story of some sort. Wished I could have stayed longer in the room to find out – but it was super packed. Seriously amazing stuff.

If I recall correctly, a piece of work by Pablo Picasso…

Pretty 1940’s style fashion drawings.

I like the play on depth with this black and white print. Can imagine this print on tees, stationary , cutlery, and bed linen.

MOMA (Part 2) – Texture

Outside in the window display at MOMA was a large colourful knit/woven exhibit which covered the entire window. It is kind of random, unexpected, but as you look closer you can see a masterpiece of knots and weaves in various size and texture. The colours are so vibrant and contrasting, yet they all work well together.

The knit and woven theme continued inside with an adorable and colourful display of hand-knitted dolls placed on top of woven patterned mats of the same colour palette.

The colours, patterns, and the dolls remind me of traditional South American costumes and designs, such as those from Peru. To provide some examples, I found a pic of a piece of textile art out of feathers from Ancient Peru below:

And a photo showing traditional Peruvian costume worn by the villagers.

I also came across a blanket/quilt (of some ethnic influence) which had paint or ink splatterings at one end. The colours and quilt detailing reminds me of traditional costume and face paint worn by the American Indians.

A closer look…

There were more paint-splattered artworks on display, I particularly liked the intensity of brush strokes and texture of the painting below – the thick layers of mainly white (with hints of blue and red) contrasts well against the yellow and black canvas peeking underneath. Quite urban looking. I’m already picturing colour palettes for streetwear ahead…

This is a cool exhibit. Pretty simple idea yet the outcome is very effective. The use of bright pink and metallic orange against a gold/yellow back-drop is genius.

Now I always get pretty excited when I come across new and interesting types of textiles and fabric, and finding 4 textiles on display produced by Japanese textiles company, NUNO Corporations, is by far no exception! The 4 textiles they had on display are examples of recent design interests in biomimicry (the imitiation of natural processes and forms).

The first one is: Kinugasa Mushroom (2007) textile, which mimics the lacey veil of the Kinugasa mushroom i.e. the mushroom grows a white perforated veil from the edge of its cap to attract pollinators.

The second one is called Tanabata, a type of polyester which is heat-treated, folded and cut to create an accordian-like structure. Truely beautiful.

The third textile is called Stalagmite. I had to steal this pic from NUNO’s website (http://www.nuno.com/) as the actual photo I took turned out horrible and blurry. As you can see from the pic below it’s a pretty fragile piece of fabric. It is made with a special steering wheel embroidery machine that creates a repeating design motif based on calcified rock formations.

Finally is one of my favourite types of fabrics…the environmetally-friendly types. This fourth textile is called Green Fabric, which is made from completely biodegradable cornstarch fibre. The fibre is overspun to create a delicate crepe material with irregular, ragged, perforations, revealing the beauty of imperfections. Note: Pic doesn’t do the fabric much justice – sorry!

MOMA (Part 3) – Colour + Prints

This is probaby one of my favourite pics from the museum. There is something about the use of primary colours as well as black and white that makes for a striking image. I kinda wish now that I had taken the time to read more about what the display was about…

Then I discovered some amazing oil paintings by American artists, Arshile Gorky and Jackson Pollock. This one is by Pollock titled “Easter and the Totem.” Love the delicious purply pink in this painting, makes me wanna wear it as a dress, or patent heels. Mmmmm…

This one is by Gorky, titled “Garden in Sochi.” I always smile when I look at this 🙂 I want it!

Came across some pop-art style exhibits that look to be comic-inspired. Which reminds me…gutted I missed out on the ‘Super Heroes’ exhibition at Metropolitan Museum! My tutor recommended that I go see it but I didn’t get the chance to visit the museum due to lack of time. Poo.

The following are 3 separate photos put side by side taken by my friend Marie. What I like about these are the colours and composition – clean and simple. I can see the sky blue in chambray and light faded denim, and the dirty orange and pink in summer dresses and tops.

Again, I love the colours of the next 2 photos. They make excellent colour palettes, and I can also imagine the prints on tees and dresses.

MOMA (Part 4) – Objects of Interest

The following are a random mix of exhibits and objects that caught my eye…

I like how compact these rather clusmy and oddly-shaped pieces of furniture can stack together.

This is cool. Athough I’m not too sure how comfortable it would be to sit on it. A full body-length version would be ideal…

Random stuff…

Marie found this cutie…an upside down ice-cream! Wonder what it is filled with…would be a great bean bag!

More sweet treats…

I must be getting hungry…these cups makes me think of boiled sweets and candy canes…

Banana lollies and marshmallows…

If this was placed in a spot which looked like a walkway it would probably fool me and have me walk into it…knowing me!

MY FASHION DESIGN PORTFOLIO – LIFE DRAWING (Part 1)

I took a first year life-drawing paper as part of my Fashion Design course – and I loved it! In the first week we were taught what gesture drawing was (very fast sketches using free arm movements) and practised using charcoal. All our sketches and final drawings are done on large A1-sized paper – here are some examples:

Here, the two female drawings are from photographs in a fashion magazine while the male drawing is a life drawing of my boyfriend. Quite a difference between the two huh?

Another gesture drawing of my boyfriend…this one actually really looks like him.

An bottle of Cianti wine from Tuscany:

Another comparison between real life and photograph gesture drawing:

Drawing we did in class:

MY FASHION DESIGN PORTFOLIO – Life Drawing (Part 2)

We then proceeded towards ‘mass’ gestural drawing – more 3-D and heavier strokes. These drawings took used up a lot more energy in a short amount of time (about 10 – 20 minute poses).

MY FASHION PORTFOLIO – Life Drawing (Part 3)

After using charcoal for our gestural drawings, we started adding colour using coloured chalk and conte…

MY FASHION DESIGN PORTFOLIO – Life Drawing (Part 4)

We experimented with line drawings and the picture below was done in class of a male model’s face…BLIND. Yup, we had to stand away from our easel and draw our model without looking at what we were doing for about 2 minutes I think (maybe longer). I actually really like what I managed to draw – kinda looks abstract but not too far from the real thing!

Planar drawing is the use of lines to create depth and volume. It kinda reminds me of weather forecast pictures hehe. This was harder than it looks.

We started experimenting with the use of black ink or paint and little ripped up pieces of cardboard to draw. The first picture is a warm-up session of quick 15-30 second drawings of our model.

We then proceeded to drawing our model in longer poses…as you can see this particular model was quite the gym buff and rather toned.

A drawing of a close-up of our model’s face using paint and cardboard pieces. This is the same male model as above – I hope that you can tell from my use of lines etc that he is a bit on the older side, about early 40’s I would say.