How sweet it is...to be at this point in time where the final stages of curating the show is in place.
For my part in this show, I wanted a different way to present my images. Being an artist who works in multiple mediums, I found it impossible to choose one medium to go with. My personality is such that I want to do it all. This was my 'solution' to that quandry. I took my photographs and transferred them to fabric (100% Kona cotton). I ended up using different ways of transferring the images. The initial concept was that they would be all transferred by way of the ink jet iron on process. I found that this made the fabric very stiff and awkward to work with. Especially with the scale that I was working in and using gathered fabric technique. So there are several techniques involved in the transfer processes that I used.
I think photographic images can be ideal as a graphic image for textiles. Why not? If I knew how to translate this process to a grander scale to make life sized pieces (human sized), I probably would!
I had to create my own pattern and make prototypes to work out the logistical problems (as most artists do) of the dresses. A qualifier though: (in a Richard Nixon kind of voice) I am not a seamstress! But I am stubborn, so that's how I work through my shortcomings. OK, and sheer panic that I wasn't going to have anything ready for this show.
So, there you have it; the rationale for how I ended up with what I did.
Oh, and special thanks to Gary at Southwest Custom Acrylics for coming up with a wonderful soultion for acrylic covers on my shadow boxes. The acrylic that came with the frames were too shallow for the dimensionality of the work (they come flat which normally works for shadow box frames). I think there's a market for these covers in the framing world for all of us who like to work in mixed media. If you come to the show, you'll see what I'm talking about as far as these covers go.
