While I was visiting the ‘first cut’ exhibition at the Manchester Art Gallery, I learnt that the exhibition continued at the Costume Gallery which is also in Manchester, just out of the centre in Rusholme. I went to see what was on show here, there were three artists that had created installations of dresses and shoes completely from different types of paper, some with print some that was plain. Susan Cutts, Violise Lunn and Susan Stockwell have fashioned ‘unwearable’ dresses and shoes from handmade and recycled paper, maps and money. The delicacy and vulnerability of their sculptural form belies the gravity of the issues they confront, including ecology, geo-politics, mapping and trade, as well as identity, the body and memory. I have always loved Susan Stockwell’s work and I found it amazing to see some of her pieces in the exhibition as I had no idea that it was there. To see Susan Stockwell’s ‘Money Dress 2012’ up close was amazing as you could see the colours, folds of the paper. Susan Cutts uses more of a traditional colour and choice of paper in her work making many of her pieces seem bridal even. These three artists have always worked with paper and I have always had an interest in Susan Stockwell’s work but never really the fashion side of the work, however seeing the pieces up close has given me more of an appreciation for the fashion side of the design work they produce. I think what really worked for the exhibition was the fact that used many piece of the work in an installation style they hung items from ceiling which gave you a complete 360 degree view of some of the works making you want to reach out and touch them.
kimberleyyoungdesign 