Landesgarten Show in Germany

In June 2014 I was invited by the Weleda Company to create botanical garments for the Landesgarten Show, Between Heaven and Earth, in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. Weleda has just opened a new garden complex in this area and my work for them was part of the opening events for this new site.  Weleda makes organic beauty and medicinal products based on the Biodynamic© farming concepts begun by Dr. Rudolph Steiner in 1921 and this new 56 acre demonstration garden/farm was a fantastic place to be! The State Garden show was throughout the town but concentrated near the Weleda garden site and around the beautiful Villa Hirzel hotel I was staying in. I made 5 dresses that incorporated the natural ingredients that Weleda uses in their products. 2 dresses, one featuring the Rose and one made with Pomegranate were worn by models at a press event. The other 3 were on dress forms and installed in the garden. I of course took lots of photos, so enjoy! See all the photos on my Flickr page.

Detail of model wearing the Wild Rose dress

 

A collar of fresh oats from the Weleda garden

Rose and Pomegranate in the Weleda Garden

Pomegranate dress

Pomegranate detail

Wild Rose dress

Wild Rose detail

Calendula dress

Lemon Dress

Oat dress

MGD @ Eco Art Fest

The Mobile Garden Dress, part of the Urban Foragers series, participated in the first Eco Art Fest in Toronto during the summer of 2014. This new outdoor festival situated at Todmorden Mills is presented by No 9 Contemporary Art and the Environment, an arts orga­ni­zation that uses art and design to bring awareness to envi­ron­mental concerns. It featured 8 public art installations hidden throughout the site, live music, homemade organic dishes, beer and wine. Plus Public Art tours, Watercolour Painting Workshops, Sustainable building workshops, and Clay Stein Making. The Mobile Garden Dress was on hand at all the events onsite and she also traveled around the city to the Brick Works Farmer’s Market, the Taste of the Danforth and to Queen Street. It’s been a busy summer for this Urban Nomad! The dress was worn by several models whom i met and trained at the beginning of the project. Special thanks to horticulturalists Deena Del Zotto, Rachel Kimel and Wendy Woodworth for growing and taking care of the plants!

Mobile Garden Dress roams the streets of Toronto

MGD on site near the stage at the Eco Art Fest

 

Art And Ecology Now

Art And Ecology Now is a new book written by Andrew Brown and published by Thames and Hudson. My work is featured among 95 creators in a compendium of ecologically responsive work. Art and Ecology Now is the first in-depth exploration of the ways in which contemporary artists are confronting nature, the environment, climate change and ecology. As Brown argues in the introduction, “Once an area of interest for a relatively small group of people, art that addresses environmental issues has in the last five years become part of the artistic mainstream.” He adds that “there has been a growing tendency in contemporary art to consider the natural world not only as a source of inspiration or subject to represent, but also as a realm to influence directly — a sphere of action to transform and improve through creative means.”

My work is listed as 1 of 12  best artists in the book  in an article by The Guardian. I also read a review of the book in the print edition of the Art Newspaper while sitting in a café during my visit to Art Basel in Switzerland in June 2014. After working in relative obscurity for years it is nice to know that the art and ecology movement is gaining some legitimacy in the art world and that my work is being counted among these amazing artists worldwide. My work is featured on pages 198 and 199 in the Re/Create section plus there is also an image of View in the introduction on page 7.

pages 198 and 199 in Art and Ecology Now

The book moves through the various levels of artists’ engagement, from those who act as independent commentators, documenting and reflecting on nature, to those who use the physical environment as the raw material for their art, and those committed activists who set out to make art that transforms both our attitudes and our habits. It includes at 10 page introduction: ‘At the Radical Edge of Life’ by Andrew Brown, 6 chapters: Re/View, Re/Form, Re/Search, Re/Use, Re/Create, Re/Act plus a Further Reading list. Finally a book that deals with the complex breath of the environmental art movement by adding fresh voices to the topic.

 

Objects of Desire in Ice

Upon returning from my winter art residency in Banff in February 2014, I was happy to discover that Vancouver was under a layer of snow. This is unusual for this temperate climate and I am one of the few who relish in this rare occurrence. It meant that i could continue some of the ice work I had started in Banff and further develop the idea of covering objects that represent our desire for success and commercial goods under layers of ice. These are much smaller in scale than the chandelier in Banff but i had so much fun in one week that i did not want it to stop but the weather just kept getting warmer. I have treated these as triptychs to convey the sense of movement but I also shot video, which I to edit in the coming year. Click images to see a larger view.

Frozen nest of bijoux.

Miniature filigree carriage. Cinderella desires.

Diamonds on the soles of her shoes.

Frozen bling.

Tear drop beads in ice

Queens, meet the characters

Queens in the Desert series, Meet the Characters:

Dame Dracaena La Puente, heiress to the great Shelly oil conglomerates is still seeking paydirt with her fashion savvy. Oblivious to the environmental repercussions of her family’s over one hundred year legacy of natural resources exploitation, she still dresses to the nines to impress. Even though the oil wells dried out years ago, her privileged LA upbringing entitles her to the finest luxuries. She favors the exotic pedigree of the Dracaena Draco leaf, often called Dragon’s Blood, a red resin extruded from the plant, which was used in ancient times as varnish, medicine, incense, and a dye. Inspired by the deep red brown of the Stradivarius Dracaena stain, her skirt echoes the lines of the famous Red Violin with round luscious curves, constructed from the fallen sheaths of the Palm tree. The color scheme is furthered with the addition of woven Philodendron Seloum sheaths with their flame like spiked ends.

Dame Dracaena La Puente wearing her dress and matching hat and shoes in the desert

Queen Gabriella San Nicholas is a direct descendant of Juana Maria, sole survivor of the Channel Islands massacre of 1814. It is said that when a fur trapper finally rescued Juana Maria, she wore a skirt made of greenish cormorant feathers. Today Queen Gabriella imbues the fierce survivor instincts of her ancient native ancestor by dressing in a simple but elegant dress made from Palm tree husk. The rich toned fibre is accented with Rosettes made from Araucaria, New Caledonia Pine Needles and strings of red Palm Berries. Her wide rolled collar is festooned with clusters of pods from Firmiana Simplex, the Chinese Parasol tree and to top it off she accentuates her eyelashes with turquoise feathers. Juana Maria would be proud of this revival especially in light of the fact that she died only 7 weeks after her arrival at the Santa Barbara Mission due to the richness of the foods in the New World. It might also compensate for the fact that her feather dress was apparently sent to the Vatican, but it appears to have been lost.

Queen Gabriella San Nicholas wears feather eyelashes to honor her ancestor Juana Maria

The Mandarin Princess is the great great-great granddaughter of Citrus tycoon Charley Chapyman, who was himself a descendant of the legendary Johnny Appleseed. She is nostalgic for the lazy days of summer when what is now the Fullerton Arboretum was an orange grove and the fruit dominated the development of the SoCal area. She also likes to reminisce about her childhood visits to the now abandoned Magic Kingdom in Anaheim. Subsequently the short curved sleeves and the puffy overskirt of her dress evoke the cartoon design of Mary Blair’s Cinderella costume. This SoCal belle of the ball wears a party dress festooned with dried Mandarin peels within a lapelled bodice and overskirt of Palm sheaths. Her high collar is covered with the lace-like Miscanthus sinensis (Maiden Grass) and the skirt is made from the long succulent leaves of the Aloe ( Canaria), which are held together with long palm thorns, which act as guards for her shattered sun kissed dreams.

Mandarine Princess close up

Dame Dracaena Dress

Close up of the end of the Dracaena leaf where it attaches to the trunk of the tree

Philodendron sheaths woven into the bodice of the Dracaena dress

Palm sheaths sewn together with waxed thread

Queen Gabriella dress

Queen Gabriella San Nicholas wears feather eyelashes to honor her ancestor Juana Maria

The Chinese Parasol tree pods were bright green when fresh but their color had faded by the time we did the photoshoot.

Palm fibre close up

New Caledonia Pine rosettes detail with red berries and Chinese Parasol tree leaves

Mandarine Princess close up

Detail of dried Mandarin peels with holes punched into them

Large Palm sheath soaking in the pond to soften it up before working with it.

Cactus with Light Painting at night in the Fullerton Arboretum

Some Cactus flowers only open up at night. Lit with a mini flashlight.

Queens in the Desert

I spent the last 3 weeks of my art residency at Cal State Fullerton creating new pieces at the Fullerton Arboretum. It was a fantastic experience for me because Chris Barnhill, Director of the Living Collections let me pick a large variety of plant material from their extensive botanical garden, tucked away on 26 acres within the university campus. It was my first time experimenting with tropical plants such as Palm trees and Citrus peels and i could have spent months there experimenting with new materials. I built 3 dresses based on the Little Green Dress Project, which were worn by models for a photo shoot in front of a giant Cactus at night. The aim of the project though was to install the dresses in the section relating to the plants plants used in the garment as an educational tool for plant identification. Furthermore this project is an extension of the Weedrobes series which promotes DIY and Eco fashion.

The Queens in the Desert: The Mandarin Princess, Dame Dracena La Puente and Queen Gabriella San Nicholas.

Queens in the Desert

Queens in the Desert

About Queens in the Desert:

Set in the not so distant future, where California’s water supply has evaporated and the economy as we know it has crashed, 3 women rising from the ashes of the SoCal elite gather one evening to parade their latest fashions. They have turned to artists to create their outfits as the design houses have all but vanished. As nature rebounds from years of being paved over, organic elements proliferate and the previous yards of jewel-encrusted fabrics of haute couture are replaced with the exotic shapes and textures of the desert world. Five-inch long bright yellow thorns of the Palm leaf are used as pins and orange Dracaena sheaths make up a not so billowy shirt flounce. Theses Queens in the Desert have an aura of eccentric determinism about them. Conjuring up the charm of their royal predecessors they exude the Grand Dame worldliness of the original Gertrude Bell with a dash of the campy drag of the fictional Priscilla. It’s Mad Max au Naturel with a touch of withered Rodeo Drive prestige.

The Dragon’s Blood Dress in the desert section. The orange front piece was made from the Dracaena leaf which is to the far left o f the image

The Mandarine Princess in front of the Heritage House, which is surrounded by orange trees.

Queen Gabriella San Nicholas stands at the entrance of the Fullerton Arboretum.

Photo Shoot Credits:
Photography and design: Nicole Dextras
Photo Assistant: M. O. Quinn
Makeup Artist: Adrienn Ihasz
The Mandarin Princess: Rachel Burkert
Queen Gabriella: Cosmo D’Aquila
Dame Dracaena: Megan Eras
Light Painting crew: Emily Tyler, Marty Loggan and Peter Lang
Special thanks to Harriet Bouldin of the Fullerton Arboretum

Agent SeedBomb

Agent SeedBomb is the name of the character who wears the Traveling SeedBomb Dress; an eco agent-provocateur with good humour and style, advocating for self-sufficiency through food independence and sustainable practices.

The dress houses 50 glass vials filled with enough seed to plant over an acre of vegetables, grains and herbs to feed a family for one year, which were purchased from the Sustainable Seed Company in California. In this role, Agent SeedBomb aims to inform viewers on the identification and preservation of seeds while also engaging the community in activities such as seed bomb making and sidewalk stenciling with grains. In addition to being and avid sprout grower, he or she prepares delicious protein snacks from recipes using mostly seeds and nuts.

This piece was developed for the Ego Eco exhibition at Cal State University in Fullerton California during the month of August 2013 and it was joined by its sister pieces for the first Urban Forager communal meal. The Foragers set up camp beside Richard Turner’s “Wall Gazing Gallery”, an environmental sculpture reminiscent of Asian shrines found along country roads and they prepared dishes with produce supplied by the adjacent Fullerton Arboretum. The dress was then installed in the Begovich Gallery for the duration of the exhibition. On opening night Agent SeedBomb, played by Alice Tokunaga  gave out Seed Money (seed embedded paper coins by Leafcutter Designs) to the public. I love their thoughtful designs and was very happy to incorporate it into the project.

View full Art Statement: The Traveling Seedbomb Art State

This dress is made for traveling and throwing seed bombs.

Agent SeedBomb holding handmade seed bombs before launching

Seed bombs in cone shaped pockets with a variety of seed pods

Making energy snacks

Protein balls made with coconut, cashews and cocoa grounded together with a motor and pestle

Hand washing in a clay bowl.

Camped out beside the “Wall Gazing Gallery” by Richard Turner

Plenty of room to curl up in the SeedBomb Teepee

Teepee top

Traveling SeedBomb Dress, the making of

The Traveling SeedBomb Dress is the third instalment in the Urban Foragers series. Like its predecessors, the Mobile Garden Dress and the Nomadik Harvest Dress, it functions as a garment, a shelter and a food source. As this series is about self-sufficiency, each new piece refers to a nomadic structure and for this one i chose the teepee because the shape resembles a Pine cone.  I am fascinated by the ingenious ways that plants propagate their seeds and so i have tried to incorporate this into the design as much as possible. There are cone shaped pockets all around the edge, which hold seed bombs, which were placed within easy reach of the wearer so they could be thrown while moving about.

The structure is based on a series of hinged cedar pieces, which when folded down make up the skirt and when extended they form the teepee shape. I have used metal bolts and wing nuts as a means to hinge and tighten the segments. My intent is to someday replace these with a more organic material but for now they at least only require a small screwdriver to assemble. The skirt is covered in heavy duct canvas hand painted with a dandelion motif, a symbol of highly effective plant survival and endurance. Our agent of propagation also wears a secondhand vest adorned with épaulettes of fresh Wheat Grass and a hat formed from a bamboo birdcage with birdseed.

I looked at many options for displaying the seeds and finally decided on the glass vial because I want the public to be able to see the seeds clearly so they can learn to identify them. I created a wire cage for each one, 50 in all and hung them between the struts with linen thread. I also attached some glass globes and green cans, which have holes in them to facilitate the daily rinsing of seeds for sprouting.

Traveling SeedBomb dress set up in Begovich Gallery

SeedBomb Teepee in the gallery

Teepee struts made of cedar

Sketch for the dress design

Hand painted canvas with Dandelion motif

Dandelion motif painted on skirt top

Seeds in glass vials with paper identification tags

making sprouts in glass globes hung in sisal mesh bags

Seed bombs make by workshop participants, filled with native California flower seeds

Agent SeedBomb in full regalia

The Green Mohawk

view inside the teepee

OC3 Challenge

Curator Emily Tyler and artist Nicole Dextras with the Nomadik Harvest Dress at OC3

I was invited by curator Emily Tyler to participate in the Orange County Great Park’s OC3 challenge exhibition with the installation of the Nomadik Harvest Dress. The theme for OC³ 2013 is Sun Soil City  was to inspire discussion relating to important topics of energy, agriculture, and community.  Fourteen curators from prestigious Orange County institutions have been invited to transform a designated space in the Great Park Gallery.  The challenge was simple — create a unique environment within the allotted space showcasing the work of one artist utilizing recycled or reused materials.

It was another road trip for the NHD as the yurt structure had to be strapped to the back of a pick up truck. Unfortunately LA does not offer any transportation options other than the highway! The Dress was set up in the gallery loaded up with vegetables and foraged edibles such as Purslane, Cholla buds and Rose Hips. The Urban Foragers video was installed beside the dress and played on a loop for the thousands of visitors who came by during the Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 and who voted for their favourite exhibit. Special thanks to Greg Pongetti, Nursery Manager at the Fullerton Arboretum for taking us foraging in the garden! The exhibition runs from September 15 – December 1, 2013

The website also has short videos of all the curator/artist teams.

Truckin’

signage outside the gallery in the Great Park

Curator Emily Tyler and artist Nicole Dextras with the Nomadik Harvest Dress at OC3

Emily and NIcole inside the NHD

Inside the Yurt skirt

Yes the Loofa you scrub with comes from a plant!

Purslane is an edible common weed.

Cholla Cactus buds, one of the NHD’s favourites!

Roses and their hips, the petals are edible and the hips are rich in Vitamin C

Rosemary and Amaranth

Eggplant fromt he Fullerton Arboretum

Peppers

Shallots

Chestnuts in their prickly state

Bay leaf plant

Agave leaves are hard to pick because they are so thick but also because of their sharp tips

Prickly Pears in their pockets!

The pot and cutting board with some extra veggies

Emily and Aaron in the Orange Hot Air Ballon. I stayed on the ground and rested in the shade!

StoreFront Video

I am happy to share with you a new short documentary about the StoreFront, objects of desire project at the Lansdowne Centre in Richmond BC by Michael Sider . This video captures the performance and audience engagement parts of the project as they occurred in the mall;  intersecting consumer culture and artistic interventions with gentle prodding and good humour. And of course the kids are so darned cute! Special thanks to Elisa Yon of the Richmond Public Art Program for supporting the creation of this video. Performers include, Nita Bowerman, Billy Marchenskie and myself. enjoy.