DESCRIPTION
I up-cycled a 30 metres long canvas banner, for display in prime public space in the centre of Village Green Arts Festival. They were made with high visibility in mind across a crowded park and were shown alongside the ‘Body Maps’ and ‘Contortionists’ vinyl series from 2014. The banners are activated with the interaction of people: random ‘echoes’ of body language and posture of the painted and real figures…
The Anti-Fashionistas act out the absurdities of the fashion industry, its insistence on body perfections and impossible ideals and the wider impact of corporatism. The 30 metres long canvas was up-cycled from a previous project; my drawn line incorporates multiple children’s drawings that were already embedded on the surface and now function as creative interventions. Many of the figures are taken directly from my sketchbooks of English National Ballet dancers.
The Contortionists vinyl banners were sponsored by Outdoor Plus Billboards in 2014. The idea was to activate ‘dead space’ around the festival site and to ‘soften’ some of the security fencing. The imagery was constructed from small collages, the distorted figures created real drama when blown up big. Essentially, I created a giant outdoor art gallery of the skate park. Being durable, the banners are re-presented every year in different locations across Village Green festival, they have become part of its visual identity and always manage to recreate themselves in different environments.
