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PACIFIC RIMS I
screen, mylar, appliqué
PACIFIC RIMS I, detail
THE GARMENT AS METAPHOR:
POINT OF ENTRY
linen, organza, rayon;
airbrush, appliqué, shibori
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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Jo Ann Stabb received both a Bachelor's degree in Pictorial Art, and a Master's
degree in Costume Design from the University of California, Los Angeles. I have
been on the Design faculty of the University of California, Davis, for over 30
years teaching clothing, fashion, historic costume, ethnographic costume and
contemporary wearable design. My creative work has been exhibited nationally,
including California, New York, Washington, D.C., New Mexico, Ohio, Kentucky,
and internationally in Austria and most recently in South Korea. My written
articles and reviews on contemporary wearable art are published in
Surface, The Surface Design Association's bi-monthly journal, and
American Craft magazine. I have lectured nationally and internationally on
clothing and wearable design at many professional associations' conferences
including: World Crafts Council, Costume Society of America, International
Textile and Apparel Association, Surface Design Association and numerous
other museums and arts organizations. I was executive producer of the video
series, "Wearable Art from California" that is distributed through the University of
California and internationally through the United States Information Agency.
RESEARCH ABSTRACT
My research and creative work focuses on contemporary textile art and
wearables designed for the body. My primary media incorporates surface design
processes and embellishments that are inspired by and related to ethnographic
sources. These evolving design expressions reflect increasingly mixed
multi-cultural techniques, forms and aesthetic sensibilities. I have also written
about contemporary wearable artists practicing in the field, as well as other
prominent twentieth century artists who expanded their aesthetic expression
through their clothing including, writers, architects and painters. I have also
curated several exhibitions of clothing and wearable art. Recently I curated an
exhibition of international children's clothing that explored the variations among
global forms and techniques and re-emphasized the importance of cultural
expression in clothing and its role in socialization. I am currently researching
global clothing icons and contemporary expressions of them through a survey of
practicing international wearable artists. This exemplifies the cross-fertilization of
ideas currently taking place and the refinement of technical and aesthetic
processes employed by contemporary wearable artists. The rich creativity and
individual innovation in this work is highly inspirational and continues to reflect
the importance of hand processes, one-of-a-kind design, and individual
originality playing against the increasing standardization of contemporary
ready-to-wear clothing.
RELEVANCE TO THE FIBER FIELD
This wearable work, including my studio work and written research articles, adds
to our knowledge about human creativity and explores the relationship of textiles
to the body. From pre-historical times until today, people have expressed
themselves through their clothing and costume, ranging from the strictly
functional to the purely aesthetic. This inherent desire to modify, improve,
enhance, embellish and clothe the body has inspired a rich heritage of original
ideas that continues to evolve and expand as new media and new combinations
of techniques extend the repertoire of processes and forms. As old as time and
as new as tomorrow, this fascination with fiber and textiles on the body persists.
It is central to today's fiber field.
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