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thereof. He grabs a gossamer-light silk scarf, deftly scrunches,it between the palms of his hands and, with the swiftness of a magician, releases it into the air. This sleight of hand serves merely as a demonstration of Smith's fabric-compression method. But the explosion of party-colored silk has the mesmerizing effect of a living, breathing creature suddenly flashing its magnificent pelt. Call it magic, call it technique. Either way, Smith's recent oeuvre, exhibited August 25-September 25 at Gayle Willson Gallery in Southampton, New York, shows this self-taught shibori virtuoso in top form, creating a new species of wearable art that is as timely as it is voluptuous.
The concept of art-to-wear has always been a risky one.If the fabric is formidable, it overwhelms, relegating the wearer to the background role of artist's sandwich board. If the clothing is skillfully tailored, the wearer looks good, but the impact of the fabric may be lessened.Smith's latest designs avoid this conundrum. For one thing, his most recent dyeing techniques consistently produce subtle spotted and striped patterns that resemble animal skins. These patterns attain additional delicacy by their placement on semi-sheer silk gauze and chiffon. And equally important,the former youth quake T-shirt tie-dyer has |
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Left: Short-sleeved dress, 1994, shibori (resist-dyed), bias-cut silk charmeuse and chiffon, striped pattern. Right: long-sleeved B dress, 1994, shibori, bias-cut silk gauze, spotted pattern. |
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serendipitously discovered bias cut and hyphenated himself into a fiber artist-fashion designer. Smith's recent dresses, vest-coats and tunic-shirts, all engineered on the flattering, curve-revealing diagonals, prove perfect vehicles for his helter-skelter leopard and snake skin motifs. Unlined, buttonless, zipperless, these garments become nearly transparent tattoos that envelop the body over one of the new base layers of choice: Spandex unitard, Tactel slip, undershirt with jeans. In a league |
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