News: ValleyCAST's 'Art of Fashion' exhibit features creations from local artists

August 2024

Read the original article in Worcester Magazine

ValleyCAST, the arts and culture arm of Open Sky Community Services, will present a new exhibition titled "The Arts of Fashion" at the Spaulding R. Aldrich Heritage Gallery, 50 Douglas Road, Whitinsville. The free opening reception at 6 p.m. Sept. 5. will be in conjunction with the final concert the in the ValleyCAST 2024 Free Summer Concert Series featuring the Studio Two Beatles Tribute Band.

Fei Wu wears a piece of "wearable art" created by her mother, artist Xiang Li. According to information provided by ValleyCast, the pair collaborate, bringing Li's art to life on wearables, home goods, prints, and more, using print-on-demand services.

"The Art of Fashion" exhibit features the latest creations of local textile artists who each use different methods to create their work. Xiang Li uses watercolors to create rich, colorful paintings of Chinese Empresses on silk that are then printed on wearables.

Mihoko Wakabayashi has been passionate about SAORI weaving, a contemporary, improvisational weaving style developed in Japan based on the Zen principle of spontaneity and simplicity. She uses the SAORI method to design unique garments and create decorative artwork.

Mihoko Wakabayashi and Pamela Strombom Shelley each use SAORI freestyle weaving techniques and experiment with natural fibers and color combinations to create textiles that they then use to create their own fashion designs.

Pamela Strombom Shelley is a weaver, fiber artist, and lover of fashion. Sewing of clothing and admiration of a well-made garment go hand-and-hand for her, and she then applies these skills to her handwoven fabric to create unique garments.

Morgan Tartakoff handcarves linoleum and woodblocks and prints her images on well crafted clothing and accessories.

Morgan Tartakoff is a relief printmaker in Uxbridge, working with both wood and linoleum. For ValleyCAST's "The Arts of Fashion" exhibition, all of her functional art was created using hand carved linoleum blocks, and washable fabric ink.

Stevie Leigh is a fashion designer, tailor, and environmentalist who upcycles textile waste into wearable art for her REMIX designs.

Stevie Leigh Andrascik is a fashion artist residing and working in Worcester, MA. Her work focuses on taking discarded materials and upcycling them into wearable art.

The opening on Sept. 5 will feature live models. The exhibit runs to Oct. 24. Heritage Gallery hours are Monday - Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more, visit openskycs.org.

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