4/04/2008

Meet Miss Adjust-O-Matic


front view of Adjust-O-Matic

This is a cardboard dressform. Vintage, found it in an antique mall in Little Falls, NY for $20. Had to have it! She will become the Celestial Maiden. I have the need to document my faith in the universe, the planets. I will be using red, black and tan as a color palette for this project. She will have many constellations on her, and all of them are of my own creation--deer, squirrel, fox.... I like the constellations that we use, but they are all about myths and things I do not directly relate to. I have my own myths, my own ideas, and my own kinship with various animals. I think about drawing them on the stars and making my own celestial beings...so in this project I will do just that.
She's a bit fragile, the cardboard is slightly brittle. I am working on sealing her before I begin the artwork portion. I have a test in the corner using Golden Semi-Gloss medium. Tonite I will see if this will work. I have inserted a bushel basket inside of her torso to help keep her rounded. I will be attaching it to her via brass grommets. You will be seeing and hearing more about this girl. She will take me a couple of months to complete!

looking inside from the top at the bottom of the bushel basket

She is my second attempt at collage sculpture. I did another one 2 summers ago, and her name was Iron Maiden. She was completely constructed, however and she did not begin her life as a dressform. I used paper tape, and taped up a 14-year old with perky tits. Then I filled it up with foam insulation, and attached many other things to make this norse Iron Maiden. You can't really see all the art involved in this pic, but the cool lit top shows up nicely, anyhow.

4 comments:

What Would Jesus Glue? said...

How fun! My wife is a costume designer so I see dress forms all the time. (she gave 2 away a few months ago...I could kick myself for not keeping one of them) I've always wanted to do something with one but just don't know what to do. Can't wait to see it when it's finished.

Julie Takacs said...

Thanks renz! I am pscyhed about the 3d aspect. My latest thoughts include wheels!

Anonymous said...

This is a great find for you. Recently, I've been repurposing dolls to make small forms, so had dress forms on my brain. I do enjoy going through the patents for inspiration & ran across your "Miss adjust o matic" the other day! Have fun collaging her. By the by, your blog is one I check/enjoy almost every day.

Julie Takacs said...

What is it with artists and their obsession with forms?
I am nuts over the cages...
to the point where I spent 15 bucks on ebay having a cricket cage sent from china!!!!


___A place to find all kinds of information about collage.