Cranberry Beaded Mini

This mini dress was made entirely  from natural materials- Wear it and Compost it! The intention of this outfit made with super antioxidant cranberries was that it would be trashed as the dancer wore it. We did a formal studio photo shoot of the dress intact and then let model/dancer Nita Bowerman go wild and dance her little heart out. The result is that cranberries were squished and Chinese Lanterns went flying! This is my first foray into video so it will be a while until i have an edit of this fantastical performance but i am really looking forward to this project. The cranberries that were left intact have now dried and are waiting to be repurposed into future projects. The dress was made from fresh Cranberries,  Hemp thread, branches, Cattails and Chinese Lanterns. Headpiece is made from Birch bark, wasp nest, honeycombs, Blueberry branches, Amate paper. Boots were made from Birch bark over a wooden clog and lined with linen fabric. The style of the dress is based on the iconic shift dress of the 1960′s, which had no waistline and was therefore easy to dance in.

Concept, design and photography: Nicole Dextras. Model: Nita Bowerman,  Lighting: Jordi Sancho, Makeup: April Beer, Video: Michael Sider.

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Rising In Liverpool

Su-Chen Hung, an artist I shared a lot of yurt-time with in Mongolia, is showing her new work at: The Independents Liverpool Biennial 2010, from Wed. Oct. 27 ~ Sun. Nov. 28, 2010 at Wolstenholme Creative Space,  11 Wolstenholme Square, Liverpool, UK. Su-Chen’s piece is created with red sewing thread and 3059 sewing needles. Of her work she says: Are the four images echoing each other in their positive and negative forms or have the figures on the wall just arisen from the floor? This exhibition, curated by Priya Sharma and Caroline Smith, showcases the artists’ varying concepts and reactions to the unique environment of WCS. They explore being touched by both the walls of the places and environments we inhabit, as well as the walls and structures we create within our awareness in relation to others, feelings and communication. Other artists in this exhibit include: Michael Coombs (UK), Henrietta Simson (UK), David Eveleigh and Melissa Evans (UK), Su-Chen Hung (USA), Andrew Brookfield (UK), Junichrio Iwase (Canada), Ulrike Oeter (Germany), Cait Walker and Robin Heap (UK), Carol Ramsay (UK), Hannah Wiles (UK), Claire Freeman (UK)