Next stop — Paris Fashion Week.
Tapanui artist Kate Anderson is no fan of fast fashion — for her it is all about the transformation of clothes into a message of class and culture.
She has been exhibiting her art and fashion pieces at Ideal Print in Tapanui this past week.
The pieces are workwear that is layered, first with a plant tea made with local medicinal plants, painted in special iron-rich mud from Poumahaka collected from her family home, and finally washed in the lower part of Whisky Gully.
Ms Anderson said the process was symbolic.
“Basically what’s going on here is the land is being imbued in the fabric of these pieces. There’s a relationship being symbolised with the people in the land,”
The exhibition is a collaboration between Ms Anderson and Karim Hadjab, a Paris-based artist, who Ms Anderson met while she was living there.
The two worked together, and Ms Anderson said Mr Hadjab was always encouraging her to continue creating in New Zealand.
“I’ve been back from France a long time and Karim is always like, do that mud, do that mud, and I was having a baby at the time. This is less pieces than I wanted to send over, but it’s a great start.
“In New Zealand, Aotearoa, there are sites where it was collected for this reason which are tapu, and it was used in mahi toi, or craft.
“Mud is used in the same way in Japan, Indonesia, widely though Africa. Iron is a mordant that is always used to bring out these darker colours.”
Ms Anderson said workwear was an interesting vehicle to tell a story through fashion.
“I just find it fascinating. It’s really representative of lots of big questions we should keep in mind.
“It symbolises the proletariat, the workforce. I just think about the people.”
Ms Anderson said she had a duty to ask these questions, and to bring out a new perspective through her art.
The pieces are being sent to Paris on Monday, and Ms Anderson said although her personal goal was to develop more relationships and facilitate more exchanges between French and New Zealand artists, the clothing would represent the process above all else.
“I’d love for this project to find somebody or some group that it makes sense for, and to work with.”
Tapanui is a very different place to Paris, but she has found her home, and a balance between raising a child and creating art.
“It’s a different pace to France, incredibly different.
“I thrived there, at the time, but for motherhood it’s too complex at this stage. It’s quite polar, like the opposite, but it isn’t at the same time, in terms of creativity,”
Ms Anderson said she was happy to give back to Tapanui and show her project to the town, and hopefully bring more art there.
“I’ve heard some kind comments, but it’s probably more about introducing myself to the community and thanking them for their support.
“We’ve had a lovely transition to Tapanui and I think it’s just a really great place, a hidden gem.
“I think more artists should come to Tapanui.”
