The artists participating in the Wearable Art Fashion Show at the Campbell River Art Gallery this Saturday have reached new heights as they prepare their pieces for the public to see.
Tara Hope, a Courtenay self-taught artist with a passion for recycling, turns to everyday materials in her home to create dazzling wearable art. In the 2010 Wearable Art Fashion Show, Hope stunned the audience with a piece made of recycled bread bags. This year, she turned to plastic milk jugs for inspiration when she created a piece called “MilkMade,” loosely based on what milk maids historically wore.
“I am able to make the pieces from excess materials that I have at home as a mother and housewife,” Hope said. “It’s exciting for me to work with things that would have ended up in the recycling.”
Hope has been creating wearable art for years and says there’s nothing like it. “What draws me to it is the total freedom of expression,” she said. Artist Joanne Pringle agrees. Pringle is a sculptor originally from the B.C. Interior who has created her piece, called “Beach Bride,” from recycled paper mixed with glue, which creates a clay. Pringle says she loves that her piece pushes papier mache to the limits. “This is my first wearable art piece,” she said. “The Beach Bride idea came to me and I had just to follow my intuition.”
Campbell River artist and art teacher Leanne Longeway’s concern for the environment inspired her to use the types of plastics that are polluting our Pacific Ocean to build a work of art that reflects an oceanic theme.
The Campbell River Art Gallery’s Wearable Art Fashion Show and Silent Auction, is slated for 7 p.m. at the Gallery. Tickets are $30 and include hors d’oeuvres and a no-host bar. The Art Gallery is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 250-287-2261 or email contact@crartgallery.ca