ARTIST STATEMENT
I have long been fascinated with how fashion shows our evolving values that occur over the years as well as over the centuries. It states who we are in place and time. It reflects our changing moods, careers, personality, events being attended, changing weather, social status and hobbies. There is a different outfit for everything we do and feel. It illustrates how we feel about ourselves showing our confidence, boldness or shyness.
Fashion literally changes with the weather and the seasons. As a result of this, designers create a cult of fashion and a need for consumers to imitate the latest styles. New fashions worn by celebrities are closely followed by consumers who imitate their every move. However, consumers want to not only purchase the designer clothing but buy into the concept of the designer body as well, fueling issues of health and body consciousness.
The other side of fashion is that it is art itself as designers create one-of-a-kind pieces that will be worn by the very few who can afford them. Fashion designers have become celebrities in their own right and their collections are followed by the fashion conscious year-round. My goal is to show these different aspects with my work.
My work as an artist explores the use of fashion as social identity. I explore this theme through the mediums of painting, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture and video. In my paintings, each piece is a different fashion statement showing a realistic portrait of a model painted in oil. Fabric or real clothing is collaged on the canvas to represent the model’s clothing creating a three-dimensional effect on a two-dimensional surface. My work in ceramics and as a sculptor continues to explore the theme and use of real clothing within a three-dimensional context and video explores issues related to our identity within the context of the outer world.