#40 Karen Becker Milligan of “Blue-footed Boobie”
WINNER – Most Innovative
Embellishments & Technique: Floral foam, plaster cloths (to hold the floral foam halves together), matte medium to water proof fabric, paint for feet, metal feet (sanded and caulked to avoid any rough edges for safety), beads/buttons eyes, gorilla glue, coffee for dying bra, floral wire, polyester stuffing, fabric ink (used to touch up area where colors didn’t come together because of bra structure), transparent thread, brown and pink cotton/silk threads, Tyvek (tail), dad’s fish fillet knife for carving beak, and silicon bands to flatten cups. Bra dyed with fabric inside and out to form the wings. Inside is the lighter purplish brown hand-dyed fabric. Outside is the dark brown fabric. Bra sides and back with hooks and eyes are visible – covered with spotted fabric. Tail feathers are attached through the hooks and eyes. Small scrap stuffed in to cover the floral wire showing. Straps repositioned through wings to balance the bird, otherwise it stood on its nose. Straps wrapped before being inserted through the wings. The hanger was wrapped to match straps and attached so it’s permanent – used gorilla super glue.
Artist’s Statement: The design of the finished boobie was dictated by following all the rules. I stretched the rules, but I didn’t break them. Inspiration came from my grandmother who always felt lopsided after a radical mastectomy in the early 1960’s. She always encouraged me and gave me my creative wings. The boobie comes from my mother who wouldn’t have a mammogram because she was afraid she would have breast cancer. At 86 years of age a mass the size of a small grapefruit was found.
A Blue-footed Boobie is comical on the ground. It waddles on its short legs and looks like a clown. In the air it’s a graceful member of the sulidae family, gliding on a 5-foot wing span that makes up for its 3-foot stature.
No comments:
Post a Comment