Our current exhibit showcases five artists who deconstruct fashion and wearable art. Through their skillful manipulation, head and foot coverings become sculptural social signifiers. Fashion accessories, with their implications of protection, warmth, security and identity are transformed into conceptual Fiber Art.

In 1998 Gloria Toyun Park created public art installations where she placed handmade wigs on historical public statues on the campus of Columbia University, NY. The wigs encouraged discourse of rarely publicized aspects of the lives of these male figures. For example, Park states, "I created a cornrow wig, a traditional African hairstyle for Alexander Hamilton, since some historians have speculated his racial heritage to be of mixed blood. Thomas Jefferson wore a slave bonnet and a wig, alluding to his alleged relationship with his slave mistress of forty years, Sally Hemings…With the medium of hair, I interweaved race, gender and history with humor, wit and wigs to create provocative augmentations to the Founding Fathers".

The headdresses of Zoravia Bettiol are elaborate performance pieces. In addition to inventing and fabricating unique personas , Bettiol has also researched, deconstructed and analyzed the actual use of headdresses in their many incarnations. Humor, whether outright or sardonic, is woven throughout many of her pieces.

While "ribbons in her hair" once implied social standing as well as femininity, the ribbons in Candace Kling's elegant headdresses mock historical, frivolous fashion. At the same time, this ornate and beautiful headgear conveys the power and strength of protective helmets. The intricate details and invented symbols inherent in Kling's work support a fantasy identity focused on the head.

Fascinated by the number of ballet slippers a dancer wears out, Carol Durham was hooked on shoes after just one installation. Her molded gut forms are often painted or embellished and convey the delicacy of history as well as the power of social constrictions.

Judith Ingram's cast paper shoes belie the fragility of their material. A long time student of the properties of paper, Ingram is able to communicate texture, energy, beauty in her "sculptures of imaginary footwear". They are the sheer essence of stability.

The starting point of HEAD TO TOE is common, everyday objects. The conclusion finds beauty in the functional. Enjoy this thought-provoking work. We hope it brings a smile to your day.