#AArtxFashion: Miljan Suknovic and Artfully Awear

Last week, I celebrated the launch of my first capsule collection of clothing in collaboration with artist Miljan Suknovic.  

Even as I type these words, it seems a bit surreal that Artfully Awear has taken the form of an actual clothing collection!  It's an understatement to say that I'm excited.

Miljan and I have been friends for about a year and a half, during which time I've visited his studio on numerous occasions and always gleaned inspiration.  When Dreams on Air asked him to do an installation of work in their SoHo store, we knew it was the perfect time and venue for us to do something amazing together.  I got to work making a collection of garments inspired by his work.

Ahead of the event, Miljan installed a number of his large-scale pieces throughout the boutique, and created an awesome window display featuring his paintings as well as one of my garments.  On the evening of the event, we hosted over 200 people for champagne and a viewing of the work, including a photo booth (with hand-painted wearables) and a live painting demonstration by yours truly.

We were surrounded by all of our friends and received such an overwhelmingly positive response to our work together.  All of my hand-painted garments sold out!  It was truly one of the best and most memorable nights of my life!

Photos by Peter Sealy Art & Photography and Dezfitmedia

Model: Luiza Farber

ROBERT OTTO EPSTEIN

I met Robert Otto Epstein a few years ago, while he was working on his 8Bitterized paintings and drawings.  I was intrigued by the (as I thought) obvious connection to technology and of course the vibrant color palette, and I got to know him through a few conversations about his work and visits to group shows.  Most recently, I was struck by his portraits at VOLTA in NYC.  When I saw that his work would be included in a two-artist show at Hionas Gallery in Chinatown, I decided to reach out to him about a collaboration.

In chatting about his work, I found out that it references much more than technology.  In his words, "When I was first painting, I randomly came across a knitting pattern magazine on eBay.  So I started out painting sweaters, cardigans, jackets, and skirts.  Over time, I noticed that the knitting instructions take on a grid format.  Each square and each symbol represented a different color and that's how I got into the abstract form of painting and drawing." Basically, Robert was Artfully Awear all along!

When asked about his newest series of portraits, three of which are included in the Hionas Gallery show, he said he started out searching the internet for high-resolution images, and eventually landed on celebrities as subject matter, after exploring gallerists and athletes.  The painting that I chose as inspiration for my jacket is based on a portrait of Olivia Munn.  We both had a laugh when I told him how difficult it was to capture the expression in his painting - and he reminded me that each portrait naturally contains a likeness to its artist, so of course mine would have appeared different than his.

Instinctively, I asked him what's next, and he said he's very interested in pursuing wall-sized paintings.  It took many hours for me to hand-paint the skirt and jacket inspired by his work, so I immediately understood how intensive the process would be to paint a grid on a surface the size of a wall!   He also joked that perhaps a fashion line should be in the works.  I'd wear it!

Robert's work is on view at Hionas Gallery until May 26th.

Photos by Kathy Paciello.

KUSAMA KIDS

My very favorite thing about Artfully Awear is seeing how others are inspired to create their own wearable art.  Leila and Jonah, along with their mother Stephanie, created these fabulous polka-dotted shirts for their visit to the Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum. Stephanie said they were inspired by my Artfully Awear ensembles.  In her words, "The exhibit is so interactive already and interacting with your clothing brings it to the next level."  Have you ever seen a more adorable duo?!  It looks like Leila and Jonah had a blast wearing their Kusama shirts in her infinity rooms!

Have you created any wearable art?  I would love to see it!  Use the hashtag #ArtfullyAwear on social media to share your creations.

FRIENDS OF ARTFULLY AWEAR

Photo by @melimelonia, taken @FaenaArt

@alexgoffey with Cy Twombly at the Broad

@alexgoffey at the opening of MONA in Hobart, Australia

The one, the only @jeffrigram

One of my absolute favorite things in the world is receiving #artfullyawear photos from the community.

Here are a few recent additions to my collection, from friends far and wide.

Thank you for making my day!

REPRESENTATION MATTERS

"Without a doubt, if all black children were daily growing up in environments where they learned the importance of art and saw artists that were black, our collective black experience of art would be transformed." --bell hooks

I recently read an essay by bell hooks called "Art Is For Everybody"* which addresses the problem of black identification with art - why, in her words, "black folks have tended to see art as completely unimportant in the struggle for survival."  Shortly after reading the essay, I came across this photo in my Facebook newsfeed.  Never before have I seen one image which more embodies the importance of black representation in art.  My friend's daughter Elizabeth clearly saw something of herself in Mickalene Thomas' Three Graces: Les Trois Femmes Noires at the North Carolina Museum of Art, and this, folks, is how we solve the problem of black identification with the art establishment.

Cultural institutions, take note: representation matters.

Photo by Catherine Allison of her daughter Elizabeth (shared with her permission).

*I haven't been able to find the essay online, but you can read it in the book Drawing Us In: How We Experience Visual Art.

MR. MONDRIAN

It is not important to make many pictures but that I have one picture right.  --Piet Mondrian

Please meet Jason Anfinsen, or Mr. Mondrian (from now on!).  I can't think of a better caption for this photo, captured at Tate Modern, than Mondrian's own words.  I'm not sure how many takes he needed to get this shot, but it is certainly working!

Thanks for Jason Anfinsen for sharing this wonderful photo.

IN THE HILLS

Well, this just made my day.

I've been thinking about mothers and daughters working together creatively, and here is another joint effort: this time at the Chrysler Museum of Art (my old stomping grounds!).

Caroline and her daughter Willoughby are perfectly placed with Leon Kroll's In The Hills (1920-21) and I couldn't help but notice how Willoughby's dress even echoes the plaid of the skirt in the painting.  Not only do they echo the pose of the ladies in the work - they both also look surprisingly like the subjects.

My own mother used to take me to the Chrysler Museum, and I always dreamed of being in this painting - perhaps my own concept for Artfully Awear began in those halls!

Thank you to Caroline and Willoughby Trudell for sharing this photo.

MOTHER | DAUGHTER

When I started Artfully Awear six years ago, I had recently lost my mother to cancer.  Her creativity was my biggest inspiration, and dressing up like artwork became a means of recording her influence in my life; a project that helped me to channel my grief into colorful expression.

Yesterday, I received an email from Rina Flatau, a follower I've never met, who wanted to share some photos of her daughter Abby and her friend that were inspired by Artfully Awear.  In the photos, Abby is dressed beautifully in vintage dresses matching the artwork in their local museum, perfectly encapsulating the message of AA: to either be a work of art or dress like one.  When I saw the photos inspired by my six-year project, I realized that Artfully Awear has come full circle: from my mother teaching me about creative expression, to my endeavor to keep that inspiration alive through my blog, to this poignant record of another mother-daughter collaboration that exquisitely captures the brilliance of dressing like a work of art.

I'm eternally grateful to my mother for nurturing my creativity and teaching me about inspiration through art, and I couldn't be more fulfilled to know that her masterpiece lives on not only in me, but now also in others.

Thank you to Rina Flatau for sharing these photos and for her daughter Abby Flatau for modeling.

Photos by Rina Flatau at the Everson Museum of Art.  Artwork by Morris Louis, William T. Williams, Helen Frankenthaler, and Robert Motherwell.