kate // Fri 13 Aug 2010
Over the past few weeks I have been helping put together the website for the ‘Beyond Garment’ exhibition that will be held down in the Maritime Museum in Fremantle. This has meant hours spent immersing ourselves in bio’s, catalogues and interviews of artists and designers explaining how they are creating work a little different to their commercial pieces. The brief for this exhibition asked contributors to break the conventions that usually dictate what is, and isn’t, considered ‘garment’. The result is a collection of work comprised of wearable art and accessories, as well as textiles and hanging fabrics that invite interaction between designer and consumer.
This trend towards diversification fits in well with a theme running through the Perth Fashion Festival this year. For the first time, plus size models (notably, Natalie Wakeling) will be joining the runway as part of ‘Every Body Counts’, and Antipodium has collaborated with five indigenous artists from the Yamaji region in W.A.
‘Dim - a self portrait’, is a piece that manages to critique contemporary displays of femininity, while simultaneously engaging with an exhibition about…. well, contemporary displays of femininity. Kirsten Hudson’s use of a chandelier to make a comment about modern attitudes to women’s flesh in all its shapes and sizes, is a perfect symbol of old world glamour, perhaps providing a reference point to where we are in the fashion landscape of today. I find the title of her work intriguing. Her work is “dull and emitting the occasional annoying flicker.” She uses 10.8 kilos of fondant in its construction, the same amount of weight she is having plastic surgery to remove. What exactly is Dim? Is it her choice to have sections of her body cut apart? Is it the society that advises this is a good idea? Or has she just become the “superfluous female fashion accessory long gone out of fashion,” and a surgeon’s work could rectify this?
There are more challenging and inspiring works to be seen. Sophie Kyron’s jewellery is loud, Kathryn Bell’s hats are darkly imposing and Leah Tarlo’s damaged dolls are creepy. Because of their darkness, these ones are one of my favourites. Dolls Head Necklace covers a girl with a collection of disembodied dolls heads and blank eyes; an unusual but thoughtful statement in itself.
Growing up in Perth, you spend a lot of time watching the mass exodus of friends to Sydney or Melbourne, gloomily looking around you for something new to do. Events like these, along with the establishment of the Perth Fashion Festival eleven years ago reminds me that things in my small city are changing.
Local designer Alister Yiap has contributed six pieces to this exhibition. After graduating from a Perth University, he joined the Midland Atelier group, a studio space shared by a number of local and international designers working across all mediums. The Atelier works in a partnership between the Midland Redevelopment Authority and FORM, which is a not for profit organisation aimed at advocating creativity in W.A. Marie Mazzuri, who now works for Zomp shoes in product development, graduated from the Western Australian School of Art, Design and Media. Erica Allia and Natasha Hinnett established their own label, Martini + Coz, (based in Perth), after studying fashion and textiles in W.A. Perth has no trouble growing talent it seems.
The next challenge will be the development of an artistic community that has something unique to offer on the ‘wrong’ side of the Nullarbor. Several indigenous artists have been commissioned by London based label Antipodium to create work for this exhibition, showcasing the particular textures, colours and styles specific to northern Western Australia. At 73, Roy Merritt is the oldest of the contributors. A grandfather of ten who remembers a time when “there was no takeaway food”’; he offers a perspective far removed from those that typically dominate the fashion industry.
I am excited about the Perth Fashion Festival, and I’m looking forward to seeing this exhibition come together.
Stay tuned.