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 The
Opera Coat Project brings together a diverse group of professional
designers, visual artists, craftspersons and artisans from
across Alberta. This unique group has created a one of a kind
collection showcasing the world of opera through a series
of wearable art coats in a collaborative partnership with
Edmonton Opera and The Alberta Craft Council. Opera successfully
marries many complex art forms: music, design, theatre and
choreography. The Opera Coat Project reflects this through
the diversity of the participating artists and their unique
skills and professional backgrounds.
Initially
the Opera Coat Project was conceived as an exhibit to expose
the quality of workmanship and artistry of designers and artisans
working behind the scenes in the performing arts. Often audiences
are not exposed to these "hidden" talents and unable to view
the work close up in a gallery setting. However, like most
working artists, many of the original participants have multiple
or multi-directional careers in the arts, as do most craftspeople,
artists and designers. Many were eager to collaborate with
artisans outside the realm of performing arts. Alternately,
visual artists were intrigued by the opportunity of exposing
their work to the collaborative process of the performing
arts, offering a unique perspective to the project. The concept
expanded to 21 artists incorporating the work of sculptors,
fibre artists, painters, and a glass blower. By working individually
or in groups participants have created 16 magnificent coats
each inspired by one of the great operas or operettas of our
time and one larger than life "Group Coat" which celebrates
opera and the visual arts as a whole.
The
artists utilize a variety of techniques and materials unique
to their areas of expertise and interest including but not
limited to appliqué, quilting, beadwork, papermaking, needlework,
acrylic painting, sculpture, jewellery making, and photo transfer
imagery, using materials ranging from silk to glass. Wearable
art, a relatively new artistic genre, seemed the perfect vehicle
to meld these seemingly unrelated mediums. Can you really
create a glass coat? How does a classically trained painter
"wrap" her work around a three dimensional form? Questions
such as these abounded throughout the process as the lines
between costume and fine art began to blur.
Artists
have always been creatively fueled and inspired by their creative
contemporaries. The Opera Coat Project has provided a rare
"artist community" of both established and emerging artists
challenging its participants to explore new techniques and
work in a way sometimes unfamiliar to them. The diversity
of the participant's professional and personal backgrounds
has also provided fresh commentary on many of the world's
most beloved operas as well as some operas that are less familiar.
The Opera Coat Project hopes to enchant audiences, exposing
them to a wealth of talent captured in a wearable art form,
and inspire those unfamiliar with the world of opera to learn
more about this dynamic art form.
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