Beasts in the Wardrobe, Bronchitis & bad telly....

Beasts in the Wardrobe is a project I have been working on as part of MSFW. (Melbourne Spring Fashion Week), as part of their curated  And one of those moments where I have thought "oh no...I've bitten off more than I can chew." In large part due to a spectacular bout of bronchitis brought on by my sister sharing her germs with me, thank you sooooo much... who said she never gave me anything nice? 

All of this came about because Madame Virtue had a sale earlier this year & I got to poke around the amazing archive collection. Getting to play in a wardrobe full of designer goodies, exotic jewels, accessories, beautiful fabrics and other gorgeous things got me thinking about dressing up.   

Beast masks at the ready - Sai-Wai Foo

I got all excited about doing an installation at the store - really I wanted to play with all the toys again. Also I was blissfully unaware of just what I would have in the pipeline for this time of year. Currently I am working, pattern-making and making things for upcoming shows as well as, being addicted to Pinter-est, obsessed with Ink Master & Tattoo Nightmares. (yes crap telly I know but what are you supposed to do when I have to wait a week for my Breaking Bad fix?) I say it's all good stuff & it makes me happy :)

 Bunny & the Wolf trying on a few accessories

My terrible viewing habits aside, I am making paper masks of different animals that will sit on full size mannequins. Each creature has a different personality & of course will have an outfit to suit. The show is a collaboration with Madame Virtue's in house stylist Dean we are going to play designer dress ups with my creatures. Can't wait! I have a bear, a wolf, a tiger, a deer and of course a rabbit; all waiting to dress up and hang around the store over MSFW. (Melbourne Spring Fashion Week)

"Come to a dress-up for wild fashion animals, celebrating the fun of occasion dressing and the body as a canvas and an expression of personality.

Sai-Wai Foo, of ‘Pleatybunny by Miss Foo’, has unleashed a preening pack of exotic beasts upon Madam Virtue, where they had free rein of the wardrobe.

Masks and head-dresses fashioned from paper are combined with archival designer pieces, jewels and accessories, where more is definitely better!

Playing with textures, fabrics and the full palette of colours and patterns, this is the ultimate dress-up for all the wild fashion animals!"

Location

Madam Virtue
5 Crossley Street
Melbourne 3000

Dates and times

31/08/2013 to 08/09/2013

Mon: 11am – 6pm 
Tues: 11am – 6pm 
Wed: 11am – 6pm 
Thurs: 11am – 6pm 
Fri: 11am – 7pm 
Sat: 11am – 4pm 
Sun: 11am – 4pm

Markit & A brave new world a sculpture show

*** UPDATE***
the show opened last night & there is an album of images on my Facebook page

I think part of my problem is I think most things are possible, underestimate the amount of time that things take and sometimes over estimate my own abilities.
I had submitted and been accepting into a sculpture show on the based on drawings. So going from sketches to a 3D object, which needed to stand up to scrutiny and an show of this caliber was challenging to say the least. This time I was working with a materials I didn't have any expericne with as well as having a looming deadline, nothing like a but of pressure to get me going.

I submitted the maximum number of concepts for the show thinking "oh I'd be lucky to get a piece in" whoops is all I have to say now. I've been up to my armpits in cut & pleated paper & the onset of RSI and some sort of glue overdose is imminent. Needless to say I am finding glitter in some odd places.

I had to give up knitting a couple of years back as combined with being a on a computer all day & drawing it was causing me a few issues. I think I am going to have gnarled claws when I get to be an old grumpy lady, never mind I will be poking people with sticks & running over the toes of young people in my souped up nanna mobile...

I'm thinking glitter finish flames, a canopy trimmed with pom poms & and big shiny chrome pipes! Yes I have a plan and it's a good one.

But I digress I have work in the upcoming Toyota sculpture exhibition called "brave New World".... its a pretty big show & the calibre of artists taking part are making me feel just a little bit anxious. 

I have installed the sculptures at the Toyota Community spirit gallery and the show opens on the 27th of November and runs until March next year.

SCULPTURE 2012 - BRAVE NEW WORLD

the eighth annual exhibition showcasing the diversity and excellence of sculpture practice in Victoria

Opening Tuesday 27 November, 6:00 to 8:00pm

to be officially opened by Professor Callum Morton
Head of Fine Art, MADA (Monash Art Design & Architecture)

Exhibitors: George Alamidis, Anne Anderson, Emma Anna, Alan Annells, Marynes Avila, Mohd Khairi Baharom, Rob Ball, Don Barrett, Drasko Boljevic, Carolyn Cardinet, Albert Yi-Fu Chen, Bruce Cleal, Mark Cowie, Mimi Dennett, Paul Dew, Sean Diamond, Andy Dudok, Frank Duyker, Sai-Wai Foo. Sione Francis, Avis Gardner,, Kate Gorman, Mandy Gunn, Tegan Hamilton, Owen Hammond, Rowena Hannan, Matthew Harding, Dana Harris, Anton Hasell, Brian Helmkamp, Liz Henderson, Mark Henry, Nick Ilton, Melanie Irwin, Amelia Johannes, Cath Johnston, Stephanie Karavasilis, Andrew Kimpton, Jennifer Leggett, Sally Lie, Joanne Linsdell, Georgia MacGuire, Katherine Marmaras, David Marshall, Sheena Mathieson, Andrew McPherson, Samantha Menzies, Martin Moore, Mutsumi Nozaki, John Owe Young, Sherry Paddon, Norian Paicu, Anuradha Patel, Kirsten Perry, Jackie Ralph, Geoffrey Ricardo, Robyn Rich, Anna Robertson, Shoso Shimbo, Jeremy Shub, Adrian Spurr, Jenny Steiner, Kerry Strauss, Tul Suwannakit, Ronak Taher, Kim Tarpey, Brendon Taylor, Christopher Taylor, Pimpisa Tinpalit, Liz Walker, Carmel Wallace, Brook Winfield, Keren Zamir

Curator: Ken Wong

Toyota Australia

155 Bertie St, Port Melbourne

[Mel Ref 2E B11] 109 Tram, Stop 127, North Port Station/Lightrail Port Melbourne

Open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm or by appointment

Exhibition continues until March 2013

Composite image of my sculptures

This series explores fashion, identify and self adornment . In this case it's a group of 4 rather magnificently coiffed & decorated beasts: a goat, deer, dingo & a cat. 

Even more excitingly I am expanding on this body of work with a related exhibition in March 2013. It's going to be part of the LMFF L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural program I believe the full program gets launched in December of this year. The lovelies at Quirk & Co in North Melbourne will be hosting the show and there will be an opening night with drinkies & shopping. The show is titled "Dedicated Followers of Fashion"(yep it's a reference to the Kinks song!)

I am in the process of planning the show and working out opening dates stay tuned to my Facebook page for updates of shows, new work and photos.

Also Markit at Fed Square is coming up on Sunday the 25th of November. It will be one month to Christmas so get a jump on the pressie shopping. If you do I think you should  pick up something for yourself as a reward for being so organised!!

Pop in for a visit I am on Stall A32 with is in the Atrium, I'm close to the NGV book shop!

It's a fun market and the quality of products and variety is amazing also it gives you an opportunity to meet the makers & also the chance in some cases discuss & place an order for a custom made piece. I will have market specials but if you can't make it you can always go to my regular stockists as they will be all be getting a restock just before X'mas.

Also if  you are after a custom made piece I can be contacted via email on pleatybunny@gmail.com or an order can be placed through my stockists!

See you there
Love Miss Foo XXX

Finders Keepers market & other bits and pieces!

After my visit to the Finders Keepers in April this year I was really keen to take part in their next event. So I am happy to say that I have a stall at the upcoming October market, it opens of the Friday evening & runs all day Saturday! Going from the last market it should be a busy, fun market. Here's are the links to the designer directory  and the Facebook invite 
Just a gentle reminder the when the market is on it will be just over 2 months to Christmas.... seriously it feels as like it is just getting faster & faster!! ARGH!
If you can't make this market there are always my regular retail stores see my facebook for the listing of stores that stock my work.

Also I will be taking part in Markit at Fedsquare again on 25th of November... by that stage it will be exactly on month before Christmas so the panic should really have set in eep! For both markets I will have market specials and stock exclusively for the markets so pop by & grab a bargain - it is a reward to getting your chrissy shopping done early!

Also if you are thinking about getting portrait of your fluffy creature for yourself or as a gift you can contact me on pleatybunny@gmail.com if you want a quote or have any questions.

I love working on commissioned pieces as the subjects are always really fun and I do like the reactions I get to the finished piece! 

Here's are some images of comissioned work that I have completed recently: 

"Pinot"

Pinot looking handsome!

Pinot the handsome - a commissioned portrait of a very loved and handsome Chi/Jack Russell. The brief was for a portrait with airmail collar, I think he looks rather dashing with his starched collar and his little pearl button!

"A bad bad Bunny"

"A bad bad bunny" - a commission for a birthday gift, the brief was for a sweet but bad-ass bunny who had a bit of attitude witha vintage map paper collar.

"Oliver"

"Oliver" - a gift for a fresh baby, request was for a sweet looking bunny with patterned blues

love Miss Foo XXX

Fur & Whiskers group show and new work

UPDATE: images of the opening can be viewed at my Facebook page

"The Origin of Fur and Whiskers" is a group show that I am taking part in this month. It's  looking to be a fun show with a mix of diverse work, I had a sneak peek of the show when I dropped off my work over the weekend. 

I'm submitting 2 works for this show the first is a series titled "The animal in you" made up of a group of nine portraits. Unfortunately due to the size of the gallery the full series will not be on display. I was thinking how animals are often used to describe personality traits. There are so many animal based idioms. The full series is made up of a series of a group of 9 using a shadow portrait as a base.

"animal in you series" by Sai-Wai Foo

I quite like the ambiguity of the silhouette, I did find myself imagining the types of people these were once there animal totems had been assigned to them. In there series there is a 'stubborn goat','top dog', 'show pony', 'spring chicken', 'bird brain', 'black sheep', 'curious cat', 'night owl' and a rather 'bull headed' lady.

"A Good Looking bird" by Sai-Wai Foo

The second piece is titled "A good looking bird" again playing on oft used vernacular to describe a good looking woman. The piece is an paper assemblage of an ostrich in a glass and steel housing. She is quite glamourous and fun to make with all her pleats, pearls and sequins, not to mention her lovely long eyelashes! She is housed in a steel & glass container, she kind of reminds me of the witch Mombi in Return to OZ.

Image from Return to Oz (image from http://oneofeachblog.com/tag/return-to-oz)

 
The show opens on 5th of October and is at Off the Kerb gallery founded & run by Shini an old school friend. It's really nice to renew a friendship that goes back to well let's just say quite a few years.  Shini is one half of a very talented set of twins I went to school with. They are both very talented artists in high school however did not pursue their creative careers until graduating from"sensible" degrees!  Shini made the jump to art school her sister Dhini moved to fashion; up until last year had her own label is now head designer for a fashion brand. It's great how both girls ended up in a creative field as I could not imagine either of them being very happy in "sensible" non-creative job!

Pop by the opening!
Love Miss Foo XXX

 Off the Kerb Gallery

The Origin of Fur and Whiskers

5th October - 19th October, 2012 (Opening on Friday 5th October 6-9pm)

Opening Hours are Thurs & Fri 12:30pm-6pm, Sat & Sun 12-5pm. Entry is Free.

66B Johnston St, Collingwood, 3066
9077 0174