Chronos handmade costumes

I created both the costumes for this project to reflect the future of fabrics and support the current movement of slow fashion. In addition the design is based on simple ventilation techniques adapted for a hot and dry climate. Both pieces, the jacket and the vest are woven with materials that could be found in a desert environment. Firstly the Yucca plant fibre was used extensively throughout the weaving. This plant and others such as Agave and Sisal have a long history of being processed for the long stiff fibres contained in their leaves to make cordage and rope. Yucca …

Heritage

Outdoor installation for Geopoetics exhibition at Stewart Hall Gallery in Pointe-Claire Quebec. Curated by Kasia Basta. June11 to October 15, 2017. HERITAGE is a new sculpture is made of laser cut wood that depicts a map of the rivers and lakes of Canada. During the day the 3 dimensional letters on the shores of Lac Saint-Louis proclaim that water is our heritage in Canada. Through these vein-like water currants from sea to sea, humans and plant life are sustained. At night, the context of water conservation fades into a subdued reading, where the map now back lit, offers a more …

SHIFTS, exhibition

Solo Exhibition of my Shifts; photographing the ephemeral series at Truth and Beauty Gallery in Vancouver BC. SHIFTS, is a series of photographs consisting of garments frozen into blocks of ice, which are then photographed. The deconstruction of the clothing is as a metaphor for the multilayered aspects of the self: seams are exposed, nylon stockings act as sleeves and grasses sprout from collars. Although frozen in time, the garments appear to dance, simultaneously forming and deforming, like unmasked shape-shifters. 5 Trans-mount photographs on plexiglass with hanging system. Dimensions: 28” wide by 48” high each. Edition 1 of 5 eachTitles: …

Art Works For Change

My work was featured on the Art Works For Change website for their: Footing the Bill: Art and Our Ecological Footprint (2019) online exhibition. “Originally launched on August 13, 2015 (Earth Overshoot Day 2015), Footing the Bill: Art and Our Ecological Footprint is an ongoing exhibition that addresses the urgent need to live sustainably within the Earth’s finite resources. The exhibition features a curated exhibition of artists whose work challenges us to reflect on our ecological footprint, as well as virtual tours from leading environmental organizations. The exhibition is updated annually to commemorate Earth Day, and for Earth Day 2019, …

CHEAP

Solo exhibition at the Method Gallery in Seattle WA. The central theme of the CHEAP installation is to examine issues of consumerism and to incentivize new ways of looking at this loaded word. My intention with this work is to use the word cheap to address the environmental impact of disposable goods through the lens of the fast fashion industry. In this new work, the word cheap will be accompanied with a long list of synonyms set within a textile context. CHEAP is inspired by a billboard ad I witnessed in 2014, which depicted happy jumping children in bright coloured …

The Mask

For the second phase of the A Dressing the Future project with the Persephone character I created a mask that she would wear as protection against the toxic smoke outside. This second phase depicts the environmental devastation of forest fires, which have destroyed crops. Persephone is able to scavenge for food because she has fashioned a mask based on the concept of the medieval plague doctor mask, which had a long snout filled with herbs to protect them from the miasma of disease. Her mask is made from organic materials and features 2 respirators made from halved pomegranates filled with …

Signs of Change 2016

Signs of Change 2016 represents over 10 years of outdoor installations of words made from ice, which melt in the landscape as a poetic gesture towards the ephemerality of all nature. Like headlines conjured in a dream, they also herald in the new Anthropocene epoch, alerting us to the impact of humans on the environment. Unlike the loaded headlines in today’s media, the anticipated melting of the word acknowledges the absence of the word as it relates to the land. They act more like questions than certainty. They ask: what is the true cost of this View, who owns this …

A Dressing the Future Exhibition

New Exhibition and Art Residency  “A Dressing the Future” Lycoming College Art Gallery Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA September 11 to October 10, 2015 WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Lycoming College Art Gallery will host Nicole Dextras’ “A-Dressing the Future” exhibit from Friday, Sept. 11 to Saturday, Oct. 10. A reception and gallery talk will be held and Sept. 25 at 25 W. Fourth Street, Williamsport from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. These events are free and open to the public. In addition to having Dextras’ exhibit on display in the Lycoming College Art Gallery, she will also be an artist-in-residence at Lycoming College from …

A Dressing the Future

A Dressing the Future is a new series which integrates my artwork into a magazine format. The first of this series is called Jardin Culture and the first issue is “HortiCulture”. The editorial format of a magazine allows me to present themes in my work that raise awareness about socio-political and environmental issues. This magazine is placed in a dystopian future and I have created pseudonyms for the various aspects of my work. Dexter Nicholson is the editor and contributors include: Jean-Xavier Destroches- photographer, Nicole Vivian D’Extras- fashion designer and Élocin Sartxed-  sculptor. In mr. Nicholson’s inaugural editorial Art and Dystopia Today he writes: …

Persephone and the Pomegrante

My latest Weedrobes garment is a fruit inspired two piece ensemble with a jacket made from pomegranate peels, which was inspired by my experience with this material while in Germany working on a dress for Weleda. The sleeveless jacket also contains details made with dried mushrooms and fish maw around the collar and armholes. The boots are made with pomegranate fruit leather on a cork platform heel. The skirt is woven with wool and Asian red dates. The concept for this project is based on the Greek Persephone myth where a young woman is abducted by Haides and brought to …

Street Intervention in Paris

After the Mobile Garden Dress was in the Jardins Jardin garden show in Paris, we headed to the district of Montreuil to do a small street intervention where the dress left all of her plants on the fence of an abandoned lot. This site has an interesting history as it is occupied by the metal shell of an old factory attributed to Gustave Eiffel. This beautiful structure has stood empty for many years and until recently it was a squatters camp for the nomadic Roma people. They were evicted by the municipality in 2013, after which a fence was erected. …

Mobile Garden in Paris

The Mobile Garden Dress was invited to the Paris Garden Show, Jardins Jardin in June 2015. It is located beside the Louvre in the Tuileries Gardens in the heart of the city. The dress was presented by Val ‘hor, the French association of horticulture, floristry and landscape, who was running a national contest to get young people interested in plants. During the 4 day show the dress roamed the site inviting the public to identify some of the plants in her dress, which were common herbs and flowers. Dubbed Le Jardin Embulant, Parisians of al ages embraced the theatricality and style of the colourful …