Little Black Dress is a life size mixed media sculpture made of chicken wire, plaster, paper, paint, and found objects. I made this piece during my Sculpture III class in 2005.
I wanted to create a figure that was realistic in size and show that feminine beauty doesn’t only come in a size 6. It was an experiment in simplicity (only using 3 colors: black, white, and red), repetition. The figure is made of formed chicken wire and covered in burlap and plaster. The plaster was sanded smooth and painted with oil paint.
The fabric of the dress is created by creating a collage of over 750 pieces of paper. I used the photocopier to reduce and copy over 100 different Chinese woodcut patterns from a vintage book I bought at the Friends of the Library book sale. Each piece of paper was cut by hand and glued onto the piece using Modge Podge. Initially I was horrified when the Modge Podge produced a milky glaze over the entire dress but after a few days in the studio it did finally turn clear. After the dress had dried I sealed it with a satin lacquer.
The base of this piece is an old Starbucks table I found in the trash. It works beautifully. I painted it Lipstick Red with spray paint to match the the dress bow and give the piece its third complementary color.
This piece was part of the “Women Behind Bars” installation. The College of Charleston Visual Arts Club held its annual Cheap Art Auction & Student Show on December 16, 2005 at The Old City Jail (located at 21 Magazine Street, Charleston SC 29401). The installation was in a locked jail cell.
“Little Black Dress”
Mixed Media Sculpture
58” H x 18” W x 20” D
2005
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Photograph by Kevin Bourque (2005)
www.kevinbourque.com
