Alberta College of Art + Design, Artawearness IIX

This Is Kyle Nylund, a gifted fibre arts graduate from Alberta College of Art + Design here. His costumes, makeup & hair design & choreography all came together to delight the audience.

Kyle told me his entry this year was largely influenced by his experiences at Burning Man in the Nevada desert.

Kyle said, " I have combined masculine & feminine materials as signifiers to create a world that exemplifies confidence, sexual liberation, & the severity of the desert." A wheelchair bound mermaid?

More on the Feminine

This is Taryn Mckay's entry in the ACAD Artawearness IIX perfomance earlier this year. "The nest headpieces I have made represent fertility & the female. They symbolise a major role that women play in society as mothers & caretakers. Each piece speaks about an issue or decision that all women are faced with in their lifetimes."

I commend Taryn for tackling an important issue in such a quietly powerful way. Notice how she has made the audience focus on the individual faces of her models

I like this shot where the 2 women are not looking at the issue that affects them directly while the male in the foreground appears to follow the Western academic tradition of the active male viewer looking at passive female models.

Archetypes of the Feminine

In my Opus BA studies I am exploring the archetypes of the feminine and was reminded of Kimberly Johansen's entry, Telling Stories Through the Body, in this year's Alberta College of Art + Design here Artawearness performance.

She made a costume for each archetype 'from richly embellished, silk-screened & printed paper, exotic fabrics & found objects.' It was a clever way of telling the story and lovely to look at.