Fashion design professors showcase personal works in collaborative exhibit
Fashion design students may recognize some familiar names when they see the designs on display at The Warehouse Design Gallery this month.
Several fashion design faculty members in the College of Visual and Performing Arts unveiled their designs for the ‘Fashionable Points of View’ exhibition Saturday, marking the first time to present their works collaboratively. The free exhibit is open to the public and on display until March 24.
The exhibit features designs and artwork by various fashion design faculty and staff from the program, such as Claudia Gervais, Jean Henry, Joyce Backus, Todd Conover, Jeffery Mayer, Karen Bakke, Laurel Morton, Elizabeth Shorrock and Megan Lawson-Clark.
The exhibit is held in a dark gallery with spotlights showcasing the designs and artwork. Black walls bear the designers’ names in a white, typewriter font. An ornate white frame hangs on the wall, and instead of a photo or artwork in the frame, text delineates the goals of the fashion design program.
‘(Designing) is a big facet of what we do. This is what we are. And then we teach on the side,’ said fashion design professor Gervais, who participated in the exhibit to publically display her work. ‘We’re always looking for a venue to advertise and sell our work.’
In the center of the room, mannequins display four wedding gowns on a raised white platform designed by Gervais. Her bridal gown designs represent the four seasons. The autumn-themed mannequin is wearing a halo of twigs on top of its tiara; sparkles made to look like snow cover the ground at the feet of the winter-themed mannequin; the spring-themed mannequin holds flowers; and orange butterflies and sunflowers are scattered on and around the summer-themed mannequin.
Fashion design professor Henry participated in the exhibit to show her students some techniques they could use in their own designs. Henry featured three jackets, a kimono and printed scarves in the exhibit.
‘I have a short kimono that is silk organza, and it’s dyed in the shibori Japanese fashion, which is tie-dyed,’ Henry said. ‘The mid-length jacket with three layers took three weeks. It’s digitally printed organza.’
Being a fashion design student can be costly because of the expense of supplies and fabrics, and Henry offered an example of a solution in her designs. She said she manipulated inexpensive fabrics to create her pieces.
Backus, a fashion drawing professor at Syracuse University, displayed her figure watercolor paintings. One painting, titled ‘Seated on Iris Kimono,’ portrays a nude figure seated on a floral kimono. Backus chose these paintings because they relate to garments and fashion.
‘It’s important for students to see what we’re working on. They get to see the variety of talent,’ Backus said. ‘I think it’s good to show personal perspective and demonstrate that teachers are working artists.’
Fashion design professor Conover teaches digital presentation for fashion designers and apparel patternmaking using the OptiTex software. He displayed his talent in graphic digital artwork with pieces that paid tribute to late fashion designer Alexander McQueen and fashion photographer Richard Avedon’s iconic photograph ‘Dovima With Elephants.’
‘(The fashion professors) put so much input in our designs, and it’s interesting to see what they do on their own,’ said Naomi Tilewick, a senior fashion design major. ‘The department is so small, we’re like a family. It helps us get to know the faculty on a personal level.’
Tilewick has been taught by many of the professors who have pieces in the show. She attended the exhibit’s opening Saturday to see what her professors have been working on outside the classroom.
‘(My students) always ask, ‘What do you do?” Henry said. ‘I thought that these examples would be thought-provoking. When it’s personal, it always means more to them.’
Published on February 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm
