Odalisque
Year: 2015
Event: High Fashion Photo Shoot
Inspiration:
A call was put out through the TAFE network by a photographer wanting garments for a high-end fashion shoot. I had been playing around with leather, and had some pieces ready to create a corset-style bodice. I decided I would propose creating a pair of works with these ideas, which was accepted by photographer Angelina Raisa, who has since gone on to photograph many of my WOW entries.
Materials & Techniques:
Hand dyed silk remnants, hand printed silk organza, moulded, tooled, and painted leather pieces, feathers, hand beaded crystals and pearls
More Information:
The unique shape of the bodice pieces came from my Studio garment at TAFE in 2014. Ballooning out from below the bust, it was nicknamed the Blueberry, and was a challenge in patternmaking requiring much assistance from the tutors. Made from blue-dyed calico, it was decorated in shibori-shaped silk organza, sequins and beads. It required foam padding and boning to hold the structure out. All the pattern pieces had to be altered for these new designs.
Bonus Information:
If you look closely at the leather on one bodice, you will see that it has been delicately tooled with feather-like patterns. To do this, the leather must be ‘vegetable tanned’ (with tannin from tree bark), then dampened before using a mallet to tap shaped or patterned tools into the surface. The silk organza in the embellishments came from off-cuts of Fènghuáng’s feathers. In 2015 the pair travelled around Australia with me as part of my display as Guest Artist at the Craft & Quilt Fair, Expertise Events in Perth, Launceston, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, and Adelaide.
