Body Politic: My First Solo Show at Delta College

For those of you who don't know, I teach art classes at my local community college. It's my day job, but it is also my passion. I feel like I learn as much from my students as they learn form me. I have been lucky enough to have this position for a few years now, and even though I am not full-time, I am able to (just) pay the bills with this job.

This year I was invited to have my own solo show in our Galleria. We don't have a "proper" art gallery, but we do have an open atrium on the main floor of the humanities building with glassed-in cases called the Galleria. This is where we house our art displays - unfortunately, the glassed cases on the wall only allow 12" of depth, so they stink for 3-d pieces. I spent a lot of time in the year before my show measuring the cases and going through my inventory of costumes to decide what to display. You see, I am also lucky enough to be the costume director at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. On top of that, I have played a character out at our festival for almost 9 years. Before that I was what we call a "playtron" - that is, I came as a customer to the festival dressed up in Elizabethan costuming. All of this combined means I have a large backlog of costumes in my basement. For my show I decided to do a mix of costumes made for myself and made for others. After many months of sketching ideas and nail-biting, I finally decided to display some of the work in the large stand-up cases the school has (we dug out 2 of the 4 available. The other 2 are buried in the storage room under a layer of detrius). The rest of the the pieces I hung from industrial hooks on the wall (thank you Ben Clore for all of your help! See his brilliant work here.) I have to admit, I was surprised I had so much work to display - it is amazing how it adds up over time!

My character is Mary Jayne Fitzhugh - the village seamstress. I PROMISE I was thinking of the shoes when I came up with her first name...and Fitzhugh sounds like "fits you"...yeah, we love puns.

The "opening" of my show culminated in a performance - a few of my fellow performers were kind enough to add their talents to the list - we had belly dancing, court dancing, bag pipes, jokes, and basic nonsense. It was a TON of fun!

 My show came down this week, but if you missed it here are some pictures (as always, click on them to enlarge):

An overview of the galleria - photo by Lindsey Franzel of the Delta College Marketing Department  

From a different angle

Ball Gown for the 2013 season.

The actress who played my assistant for three seasons decided she wanted to join a singing group, and needed a court gown to be a part. This was the commission I did for her.

The hat I made for her - Photo by Lindsey Franzel

Left: Seamstress 2012 dress (with handwoven fabric) Right: My first apprentice, Alice (skirt made by Alex Spittle who played Alice)

Closeup of Mary Jayne's  famous hat

As I was photographing my hat, I realized why I get so many pictures taken of me during the run of the show - this thing really is like a walking still-life when it is on my head!  It's very sculptural, and there is something different to see from every angle.

A selection of works on the wall behind the main cases - photo by Lindsey Franzel

A pink Florentine-style dress I made a long time ago. I haven't been able to find the sleeves for it in ages.

This is a silk duipioni gown I made ages ago, and then remade it 3 or 4 years ago for the royal ball the festival puts on. I don't wear this one anymore, though - as I made a new ballgown last year (see above pics)

2010

The top 2 doublets are women's, the bottom is a man's. The cut is virtually the same - the biggest difference is the woman's is shorter to accommodate a shorter torso. The top doublet is from my first year playing the seamstress in the 2006 season

2011

2009

Florentine gown loosely based on styles worn by Eleanora of Toledo. Worn by me as a parton, so this must date to 2004-5.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room....

Originally we had 5 princesses, but we sadly lost one to illness before the run of the show began. The girls are all named after various gemstones - here you see Amethyst and the back of Opal. Not in the show - Garnet and Emerald (I just ran out of room!). The dresses are shot silk dupioni, and they just shimmer in the light. I didn't take a picture of Opal's dress as they are all the same style. In this pic you can see the shoulder swag. 

Closeup of the princess jewelry - they also all have matching necklaces and bodice jewelry - both worn by the mannequin in the previous picture

The guard uniforms overlooking the safety of the princesses 

And finally I leave you with this....are YOU brave enough to put your underwear on the wall????