|
Shelly
Hedges, The Right to Bare Arms
Oregon
College of Art & Craft, 8245 SW Barnes Road, 297-5544.
Ends Sept. 3. Free.
|
|
Shimmery hot pants, sleeveless cocktail dresses and logo-covered
garments are far from revolutionary. The so-called "daring"
designer versions of such styles now strutting the catwalk
look downright ordinary. But regional artist Shelly Hedges'
current show, The Right to Bare Arms offers a humorous
take on these garments that is a refreshing--and much more
radical--departure from typical runway fare.
Portland native Hedges, a 1995 Oregon College of Art &
Craft graduate, specializes in ceramics. But her multimedia
sculpture garments--inspired by wordplay relating to images
of women--showcase her more seamless talents. Hedges' garment
art isn't too far removed from the current styles hanging
out at Nordy's Rack, yet it exhibits just one truly traditional
feature: shape. From there, it gets downright weird.
One of her standouts is "Don't Call Me Honey," an adorably
brief spaghetti strapped dress made from 30 C&H sugar
bags carefully sewn together with zigzag stitches. The bodice,
white with blue text, is made of the upper section of the
bags. Hedges used the remaining part of the bags, pink with
a sugar cane print, for the lower half of the dress. She
utilizes common, disposable materials in new ways, encouraging
appreciation for the aesthetic beauty of everyday items.
She hopes to make them "precious because you've treated
them in a precious manner."
Hedges is particularly fond of sticky candy wrappers and
other cast-off food packaging, because they are often beautiful
but not fully appreciated in everyday life--despite Target's
new ad campaign. "Hot Pants" are made of vibrant green and
red wrappers collected from salsa and hot pepper products.
She fashioned "Candy Pants" from a hodgepodge of candy wrappers
from around the world. And "Tootsie" is a simple dress sewn
entirely out of Tootsie Pop wrappers.
Hedges also displays some non-food-based creations, such
as "Stamped." She combined countless international stamps
from letters and postcards she's saved for over a decade
to make yardage, then cut pieces with a scalloped-edge scissors
and sewed the layers onto a thrift-store dress. An occasional
peek of handwriting lends the piece personality and a sense
of history. "I have a suitcase I've been putting all my
letters in for 12 years," says Hedges. "That was a really
emotional piece for me."
Hedges' most arresting garment is a dress completely covered
with blue Equal packets--the first piece she made in the
series. She used a simple sundress pattern to sew the muslin
lining, then hand-stitched the packets on in an overlapping
fashion. While the word "equal" and the artificially sweet
material fit into the show's overall theme, the artist says
she didn't attempt to make a bold statement with the dress:
"I just thought it would be cool."
Hedges is confident enough to infuse her craft with tongue-in-cheek
interpretation instead of slapping people in the face with
attitude and a message. She chose the theme of women-associated
words as a starting point, but aesthetic consideration became
a primary focus. For "Cheers," her wine bottle label bikini,
Hedges stitched together--in a seemingly random pattern--flattened
foil pieces richly colored in Bordeaux, forest, black
and mustard, textured with bunches of grapes and other ornate
designs. The result is far sexier than your average Anne
Cole swimsuit number--not that these sculptures are actually
meant for the beach. The few pieces that are lined with
real dresses could be worn, hypothetically, but they're
quite heavy, Hedges says--and she should know; she has modeled
the Equal dress.
After seeing Hedges' show, one can't help but wonder if
her home on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula is a diabetic's
nightmare, filled with piles of sticky candy and mounds
of sugar stripped of their containers. "We still have containers
of sugar and lots of salsa in the cupboards," admits Hedges,
who prefers wearing Levi's, her dad's old Shaggy Man Angora
sweater and Karaline dresses to high fashion. "Of course
this means I'm going to have to start doing a lot of baking
now." She also keeps a big bowl of Tootsie Pops in her Long
Beach studio/shop and a supply of Lucky Chicken Ceramics
to give to local kids--but only if they hand over the wrappers.
If you like chocolate, befriend this ambitious artist now:
Her next project is to make an evening gown out of Lindor
Swiss chocolate ball wrappers. Sweet!
|
