Thanks to the brilliant artist
Susie MacMurray, I was fortunate enough to get these images that show us all the different steps required to make Icarus. This magnificent garment sculpture was created for
Pandamonium, an event that took place in London's Hyde Park on May 24th.
" Constructed from an expanse of bird netting with ostrich feathers twisted into it with copper wire, Icarus is part flight suit part cloak. The impetus for the work comes from the combination of two thoughts. The cautionary tale of the dangers of over reaching ourselves and flying too high, disregarding the consequences of our actions, which sits beside the metaphor of the ostrich burying it's head in the sand."
~~Susie MacMurray
Susie MacMurray lives and works in Manchester, UK. Join me now in Susie's studio, meet her team including Jinks the mini-schnauzer, and discover her spectacular artwork.
Icarus 2012
Susie MacMurray
Testing the materials (bird netting, ostrich feather & copper wire)
Constructing the harness using a flight harness buckle sourced on eBay!
Building up the shoulders with webbing to stiffen them to support the weight of the collar
8000 feathers arrive, all fitted into just 2 boxes!
The long process of tightly wiring the individual feathers to the mesh. I didn't want
Icarus to molt in transit or on the catwalk. The mesh was stretched over a convenient bar in my studio and let down gradually as the work progressed. SusieMacMurray
Detail of the wired feathers
Icarus grew slowly over a couple of months
Detail
The stretchy mesh changed shape very easily so we used red wool markers to keep the correct spacing
Detail
The studio dog 'guarding' the work
Joe stitching wire struts into the mesh that will support the netting collar and attaching it to the harness
Testing how the work will move
Bill Campbell experimenting with what to use for the arm extensions and how to attach them to the wearer
The collar netting stitched in place to look like a wild loose tangle
The finished collar
Testing how
Icarus would look displayed on the wall
The finished piece waiting to be shipped
Icarus for Pandamonium 2012
in London's Hyde Park
Photo © Jim Naughten / WWF-UK
Amazing!!
ReplyDeleteWhat Alix said! Just amazing! That represents a lot of hours doing detailed work. I love it. I created a fantastical bird opera mask for a college's opera department which covered the whole head, shoulders and part of the chest. That was a lot of hours doing detailed work, but nothing as extravagant and grand as this Icarus cloak. I love seeing the work in progress. Bravo!
ReplyDelete