Beth Stewart makes
independent films and collects shorts for her Newer Collective
screenings.At
her archetypal artist's loft, she discussed her respect for
Madonna,her
fondness for the color black and her ambivalence toward accessories.
Willamette Week: In your short film Get Your
Paws off Me, hands are picking at and pulling on nylons
that are wrapped around a woman's body. If you were wrapped
in hosiery, what kind would it be?
Beth Stewart: Silk.
What words best describe your fashion sense?
I like texture and color.
How do you feel about polyester?
I love it. You can do so many things with it because it's
synthetic.
What do you think about Madonna's latest spiritual transformation?
It's more healthy. It's probably wise to make that step,
being a mother. She'd probably lose a lot of her audience
if she continued with the sexy baby-doll routine. It makes
her appear a stronger woman. (I think Madonna is
quite strong and smart.) You see "om" T-shirts everywhere.
There's the Ohm club. The whole Hindu thing is prevailing
right now.
She's sworn off traditional workouts for yoga.Do
you have a fitness routine?
I do ashtanga yoga and exercise classes. I believe in yoga
more thanworking out, too.
Spirituality is "hot" right now. Do you think it's just
a fad, or is it something deeper than that?
I don't care if it's a fad. If people go away from the
technological and disconnected direction that I think we're
going in, and they take a turn and go spiritual, it can
only be healthy. If it's a trend, I think it's a good thing.
What's the craziest color you've dyed your hair?
Probably black and white together, in '96 or '97.
The big color this season is pink. Do you care?
I just bought a pink shirt! I didn't even know that. The
color of the pink just looked really good that day. It was
rainy and gray, and I saw it and said, "That's a good color."
Fashion magazines are always declaring another color
as "the new black." Right now it seems khaki is that color.
Is there ever really "a new black"?
I've never even noticed that. I think black will always
be classic.
It goes with anything.
Accessories are really big right now. What accessorycan't
you live without?
Accessories are difficult for me, because they're never
quite right. And I wish I could say "a compact" or something,
but I'm just not that type of person.
A lot of people have plaques hanging in their houses
with sayings like "God Bless This Mess." What would yours
say?
"God Bless These Cats."
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Willamette Week | originally
published July 7, 1999
|
