"State of Dress" Exhibit!

The July / August exhibition of "State of Dress" at the New York Mills Cultural Center in Minnesota marks the first one-woman showing of this series. On display were 40" X 60" photographic prints on canvas of all the "Dress" sculptures so far...

Pinecone Dress survives the journey...

"Pinecone Dress' was shipped here for the exhibit, from the MacNamara Foundation Arts Residency in Maine where it was created. This is the first time an actual "dress" has been displayed in addition to photographs of the work. The tough nature of pine cones made this possible. I was amazed when we opened the crate at how well they had weathered the long journey.
Here is my friend Hope lending a hand touching up the dress with the back-up pine cones I mailed with the dress from Maine.

"Leaf Dress" paintings

In addition to the "State of Dress" exhibit in the main gallery, the front of the cultural center held some of the two-dimensional work I also created while an artist in residence in Maine. While on break from creating "Pinecone Dress", I collected plant life around the island and preserved it on canvas to create these "Leaf Dress" paintings.

Here is a close-up from the large "Leaf Dress" painting, with blackberry leaves preserved in their red fall color.

"Collecting Kisses"

Also on display is the new work, "Collecting Kisses". This is an interactive installation of three dress paintings on which viewers are encouraged to leave their lipstick kiss prints. Many ladies and a couple men took me up on it during the opening, and I hope the art continues to collect kisses during the run of the show.

Luckily for me, Wendy DesChene was the visiting artist to the NYMRCC while I was in town. She was an enormous help to me during the installation of the "State of Dress" exhibition.
Please check out her amazing artwork at http://www.wendydeschene.com