Paper Dress Project
The Paper Dress Project began in 2014 with a 12 artist collaboration for an Exhibition and Event called Paper Dresses at Press Gallery in North Adams. I am one of the 12 women artists who created experimental art exploring the tension between freedom and confinement within the dress form.
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I made a wearable paper Dharma Dress in the style of Pop Art paper dresses of the 60s. I used vintage wooden letterpress type to print vintage maps with the words that express travel. I designed a Dharma Compass mandala, which was also letterpress printed and used as a collage component in both of my large scale pieces. The 2-D paper dress is called the Goddess Gown. It is mixed media collage on a vintage world map. Another part of the exhibit was an origami dress exchange like a print exchange. I made an edition of 17 small scaled Dharma Dresses and received a complete set of paper dresses, one from each artist.
Both the Pop Art Dharma Dress and the Goddess Gown have been exhibited every year since their creation at galleries, art events, conferences and a retrospective. I also made a daily practice of folding dresses called the 108 Dharma Dress project. These dresses have been sold in shops and galleries. My origami dresses continue to evolve as part of my daily art practices and for special events. I often make them when I travel and give them away. My little Dharma Dresses can be found in collections around the world.
The Canada Paper Dress Project was an exciting international collaboration that took place in Nova Scotia at my friend's art studio. This was an art and yoga practice of intuitive painting, then using the beautiful abstract painting to fashion large scale origami dresses in different sizes. The more that I work with the dress as an art form and a metaphor, the more I understand the role a dress plays, cross-culturally, politically, and as a way to enact one's Dharma. Compass Dress Collages #1–4 are for sale, and I take custom orders for Dharma Dress and origami dress artwork. Inquiries are welcome for purchase of the Goddess Gown Collage.
