Wearable Art

By Sarah Schmidt | June 8, 2012 What kind of art would Andy Goldsworthy make if he were a woman? That’s a question environmental artist Nicole Dextras asked herself one day while searching for inspiration for her next project. Her answer: plant-based sculptures that are wearable and even wonderfully stylish. Dextras has created a series of seven such pieces and is now hard at work making three more for BBG’s Spring Gala and After Party. To make each one, she begins with a fabric base and then, over the course of several days, carefully layers and sews on botanical elements such as live moss, leaves, grasses, roses, and hydrangeas. To keep them fresh, Dextras constantly employs her mister. To further avoid premature wilting “we’ll refrigerate them overnight—right along with the carrots,” she says. The resulting creations will be modeled at Tuesday’s celebrations. Stay tuned for more photos, or, better yet, come see for yourself. A limited number of After Party tickets are still available!