Art Dresses
What better media to express one's thoughts or to tell a story than a piece of clothing. We all wear clothes, which creates an immediate connection with the dress as canvas.
These dresses explore themes of technology, self, environment and imagination.
Cloud Dress, 2022
Repurposed Peau de Soie, embroidery floss, fabric paints, vinyl, cardboard, glass beads, crinoline, copper wire
Machine sewing, hand beading and embroidery, paiting, appliqué, 3-d building
Playing on the new double-meaning of 'Cloud', Cloud dress is covered in 8-bit binary code translation of a personal diary. The skirt is fringed with 'data banks'. When were the puffy white clouds in the sky overshadowed by data storage (and AI) ...?
In Her Eyes, 2018
Synthetic fabric, photo transfer paper, fringe, hoop skirt boning, cotton, ribbon, zippers, stiffener
Historic pattern making and cutting, machine stitching, photo transfers
Pictures of the eyes of 66 women adorn an 1870 reproduction dress. Mother, sister, aunts, cousins, friends, co-workers... I honour them all and thank them for helping me be the person I am- and for consenting to be a part of this piece.
Exhibited at Nuit Blanche Toronto- 2018, Gallery 1065- 2024 & 2026
Self Portrait - Pieces of Me, 2019
Synthetic fabrics, custom printed silk, ribbons, silks, embroidery threads, photo transfer paper, metal, mirrors, embroidery hoops
Hand embroidery, dress-making, weaving, appliqué, transferring photos on fabric.
The custom printed dress fabric is covered in my working hands, The plaid scarf is a version of a 'Gorman' tartan, woven in ribbons.
Each hoop represents an aspect of my Self. Blue circles are elements outside of myself that feed my soul. White Circles are parts of me that I am very happy with, proud of. Yellow circles are aspects of myself that need some work...
Exhibited at Nuit Blanche, Toronto- 2019, Gallery 1065- 2024 & 2026
Birch dress, 2015
Birch bark (found fallen bark), repurposed dress, bamboo, fishing line, 3d printed 'self', hot glue
Adhere birch bark to dress, ladder building,
A childhood in rural N.B had its pluses. I spent many happy hours sitting up high in a Birch tree, reading...
Exhibited at Nuit Blanche Toronto- 2015, Gallery 1065- 2026
Re-Purposed, 2011
Textiles, Dried Flowers, fringe, hoop skirt, hot glue
Historic dress-making, machine & hand stitching, Gluing
An homage to the beautiful gardens at Spadina Museum, repurposing surplus dried flowers which were intended for museum displays.
Toxic Waist, Paper Thin, Chaos & Flammable, 2017
Synthetic fabrics, silk, acrylic paint, leaves, plastic figurines, strings of lights, glue, wire, dried grass, buckram, hooping wire
Of Note, Toxic waste is covered in items that, in Toronto, are Hazardous Waste: old paint (including acrylic), pills, nail polish, make-up, batteries, lightbulbs, crayons. Other items embellishing the dress that are harmful, but not deemed hazardous: used balloons, plastic straws, plastic rings from bottles...
Draping, dress-making, machine & hand sewing, gluing, papier mâché, stenciling
Exhibited at Nuit Blanche Toronto 2017
Just Beyond (left 2) 2016 & Four Elements 2014
Synthetic textiles, fake flowers & greenery , origami paper, ribbons, paints
Machine and hand sewing, origami cranes, whales, flames & leaves, painting, sculptural elements
Exhibited at Nuit Blanche Toronto, 2014 & 2016
Señorita Zanahoria (Miss Carrot), 2010
Carrots, leeks, beets, heavy felt
Hand sewing, vegetable harvesting, machine sewing, sculpting
A tribute to the harvest.