moda

completion phase!  Here we see the final of the winter dress commissioned by dear Kristan Vaughn!  Kristan, this is a message to you that I'm taking your dress (hostage? no, keeping it.) with no intention of holding up my end of the commission deal...  I'm too in love with this piece to pass it on to you.  As a matter of fact, this may be the most satisfied I've ever felt with a finished couture piece!  Sorry sister....

OK, ok, not really...  I'll be the honest lady that I want to be and sell you this dress as promised.  I'm so lucky to be able to to wear it and photograph it and ...use the pattern to make my very own winter dress!  Only a few changes along the way and really, no notable hang ups after making the mock up jacket (see left).  But seriously, in terms of garment design (draped pattern based on the above drawing and Kristan's measurements) and construction, this is quite a success! 

moving this week

Packing up the apartment and moving a few neighborhoods East, we're shifting home again...  Here are a few photographs of notable moments in the apartment where we lived this year.  Ciao 1302 Columbine.

M I L K on tour

This Friday and Saturday, M I L K takes a trip over to 425 Lincoln Ave. Denver, to show as part of the event Pathways: To The Source.  With the focus to initiate a dialog about the critical issues facing our society, and how we, as artists, can facilitate change. Art, Music, and People : thematically linked by our need to constructively and creatively recognize and care for our natural resources and fragile ecosystems.  M I L K uses recycled materials and represents a simple but powerful way that re-used material can transform into art media.

The weekend begins with an opening event in the Gallery (upstairs) on Friday from 6pm to 12am with DJs and a bar.  (M I L K's two parts are situated one behind the DJs' rig and one behind the bar, facing each other across the gallery's width.) On Saturday, the gallery is open from noon until 8pm.  From 10pm to 4am on Saturday(Sunday), the Party starts downstairs with live art, live dancing and live music (meanwhile, visitors can take a private tour of the gallery).  

fabric arrival & sewing machine's new lease on life

Only talking about M I L K for the past month, I should also point out that the month of January has been busy with sewing projects.  January started with Louder Than Words Dance Theater's production, SHIFT, for which I did costume consultation and design.  It was a screenprinting, cutting and sewing whirlwind that whirled right onto the dancers as they performed excellently for the first 2 weekends of January.  How fortunate I am to work with a brilliant choreographer, lighting and sound designers and dancers in this company.  Pictures are yet to come, but I will be certain to include them here when available.  As for now, work is underway with the winter dress for Kristan.  You can see the beginnings of mock-up work there on the dress form.  Kristan will have a dark gray wool outer and a golden yellow lining; that fabric just arrived yesterday afternoon!   After a tune-up at Rocky Mountain Sewing and Vaccuum, the little Kenmore is finally in smooth working order!  It's about half the size of my other Kenmore and has those great shiny knobs!  Now that the machine with stretch stitch is in service, I'll be able to make headway on the latin ballroom dancing costume that's been a work in progress for a few months.  With a few commissions going on and sewing lessons still a regular part of the week, sewing is a busy aspect of hol sum's current happenings.

m i l k : documentation

M I L K and the space between.  Photo by Charlie Smith.

documentation for M I L K can be found via Flickr.  See below or follow this link to hol sum's flickr page.  Art by Hol Sum.

M I L K's opening night.  photo by Charlie Smith.

m i l k : an installation by hol sum

There's M I L K on the wall.  This is hol sum's latest site specific installation, newly installed last night.  Entitled  M I L K because the main media is repurposed milk jugs, the resulting texture and luminance reference the original containers' purpose and the location's daily production.  Each square foot of these 4' x 8' panels represents an average day's worth of milk consumption at Hooked on Colfax Cafe on Denver's near East side (3213 E. Colfax Ave.).  On a grand scale, M I L K glorifies milk as it has re-identified as one of America's favorite beverages - heated and aerated in our lattes of course.

Apart from the site and media's inherent messages, this work correlates with my body of work dealing with repetitive/meditative processes, repetitive elements, and minimal aesthetics.

 the newest art installation, MILK going up at Hooked on Colfax Cafe, 3213 E. Colfax Ave.  Denver, Co 80206.  Showing January 5 through February 8, 2010.

Entitled MILK, referencing the material's original purpose, this installation resonates with previous installations by HOL SUM.

The major theme for HOL SUM's installations:  the material of the installation is a product, by-product or waste product from the environment in which the piece is installed.  The material is revised and re-purposed from its original function and appearance, then installed as a textural reference to where it is placed.