Rykka

What am I wearing on stage you ask?

This piece grew from pondering where exactly those colored, store-bought feathers come from, and became a thought process that moved into something that became a different outlook and understanding of art and decay.

The feathers are all natural (no colorants), and hand found by yours truly, (along with TImothy Loeffler) on beaches of the lake of Zurich, Switzerland - a short walk away from my house. I collected them all in portions and soaked them in an all natural shampoo overnight. Then ordered them depending on size and style. The white line of feathers have a curl to them, in order to work with them more easily, I ironed them. :)

I found a second hand dress, a black velvety material and began to sew the feathers to the dress with a clear thread... but realized that hot glue...Yes! allowed for more security, and thus more freedom.

After finishing the front half, I went through my collection of metallic purple Mallard wing feathers, and chose some to attach to long strips of black string to hang off the rear of the dress.

The whole piece took about 3 weeks to complete, and was finished just before my first full band performance of the summer.

While I was working on the dress, and every time I wear it at a performance; I'm constantly reminded that this piece will not be forever - its so fragile, and the feathers will not stop their decaying process for me.... I'm grateful to focus on a material discarded from an animal and as I become more familiar with working with feathers I gain a greater understanding of them.