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| Beautiful Boro and education at KimonoBoy.com |
Japanese Boro is a form of patchwork repair, a method for using every scrap of precious cloth and keeping your clothing functional over many, many, years. It was a necessity - not an artistic choice.
I think my Boro project is much more in the spirit of Boro, rather than following the actual design esthetics. I think it's a beautiful idea. Even though I do my best not to subscribe to our culture's rampant consumerism, I find myself being wasteful more often than not. I'm seriously considering a clothing moratorium for an entire year. I certainly have more than enough clothes. I also have many, many projects I've wanted to make - and the fabric to make them.
So. I have quite a collection of old linens and lace scraps - other people's cast-offs. Some of them are exquisite hand made pieces that I can only imagine creating.
Many of them are deteriorating, no longer useful in their original form. I've dyed them and now a few choice pieces will add color and shape to my wearable "canvas."
It's no different than making a sketch or any other work of art. It's all about composition. I have to choose shapes and colors and think about placement.
If I use a contrasting color it might become a focal point. It's very important in wearable art to consider the placement of a focal point or any attention grabbing element. There are places you don't want people to stare when they are looking at your body right?
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Boro beginnings by Lyric Kinard And to reference Melanie Testa, the inspiration for this project, I've stitched a little bird inspired by some of her artwork. Literally - sketching with needle and thread. |
