A few weeks ago, I was featured in a Cloth Paper Scissors magazine "On Our Radar" article in the November / December issue. I created some special pieces for the article and I was excited to see them back on my doorstep when I got home from work today. I think there was some curiosity about the bra I made from wire and rice paper, so I thought I'd share more detailed photos so that everyone could take a peep.
This piece started out as a wire-only construction. 20 gauge wire and pliers. And reading glasses. And very sore hands.
The rice paper "fabric" came later. I wanted to create a soft inner layer and decided to experiment with paper. I wrote words of encouragement over and over on a large sheet of rice paper using a felt tip pen. Then I covered the whole piece of paper with a mixture of watered-down acrylic paints. I cut out a bra shape by just eyeballing the wire shape, then lined the rice paper pieces with pattern paper and sewed the whole thing together.
I decided to add some real bra parts and buttons using pieces from my grandma's old button jar. I guess she hung on to old parts just in case she needed to make a repair. I love the resourcefulness of that generation.
The inner "fabric" layer is attached to the wire frame with fine gauge wire. I added tiny flags and encouraging phrases taken from an old childrens' book.
The piece is called "We All Need a Little Support."
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wowow! i am so glad that you left a comment on my site, i am really inspired by all your work. this is so quirky fabulous, totally something my cheeky grandma would have loved ;]
ReplyDeleteThanks for these lovely up close shots - It's like holding it in my hands.. beautiful work.
ReplyDeleteLove it, Jenny! It's gorgeous. You're always so creative and original!
ReplyDeleteThis piece is amazing! Very creative and so inspiring to look at. Just found your blog and love it!
ReplyDeleteSo very cool, reminds me of your little house challenge piece. Love the paper and wire. The pink too. My mom died from the spreading of breast cancer just on the brink of all this awareness and support we have today. I say we need more bra art everywhere! (And I don't mean the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, either, although they really should support breast cancer research if they don't already!)
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