"Sew La-La", sewn vinyl banners, 2011

"Slick" and "Aim High" in MOCA Show this summer

Come and see fine art created from recycled and repurposed materials
this summer. Both wearable arts, "Slick" and "Aim High", made by
traditional sewing and state-of-the art heat fusion techniques, were
chosen for the Artfully Reclaimed V Summer National Juried Exhibition
at MOCA by Juror, Jack Fischer, of the Jack Fischer Gallery, San
Francisco, CA. Works will be on view from May 28 - July 10. The
Reception will be May 28, 5-7pm.

Http://hotoffthepressfromelisecheval.blogspot.com
www.elisecheval.com

Hot Off The Press on view at COM

I love how plastic holds it's shape! Imagine a model embodying this
abstract work of art.

Haute Trash

My friend Carolyn snapped this picture at O'Hanlon Center For the
Arts. The dress and hat are sewn and fused trash bags.

The Resurrection of Trash

Today, I am celebrating my second milestone since the inception of my Project, "A Sea Odyssey:2012" on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009. My goal was two-fold. First, to heal myself of depression brought on by reading in the SF Chronicle that our ice caps would be gone in 6 months. Second, to be part of the solution and raise awareness about the unsurmountable problem of plastic and the Great Pacific Gyre Patch. I reached my fist goal. Now, I am working for the second one.

When I started crocheting a sea dragon out of audiocassette tape 2 years ago, I could only imagine my success. Now, I am a well-seasoned textile artist and show my work in galleries. I transform plastic by sewing and heat-fusion into stunning haute couture. I grasped the attention of Paul Smith, the Director of Contemporary Opera of Marin, and am working on the creation of costumes and a giant Trash-A-Pus for an opera about trash and its impact on us.

As a performance artist and musician, I feel myself being beckoned like a moth to the flame. When I am strutting my stuff in my wearable arts, I ponder many questions, with the foremost one being, "What is my intention?". Some might say that I am burning my candle at both ends. They are concerned about whether wearing plastic next to my skin is dangerous. I don't know. Maybe. Probably. I am not complacent about the real dangers of working with plastic. I wear a respirator that protects me from noxious fumes when I fuse the plastic. Yet, I hold the possibility that all good causes come with a price to pay. Am I a martyr? Martin Luther King died for his Dream. My dream, to wear my garments as a spokes piece for raising awareness about the complex nature of plastic and for an audience to witness my costumes and sculptures made out of trash on an opera stage lives on...

Elise

Earth Day in SF

I woke up today, and in my meditation, Spirit reminded me about the
Earth Day celebration, hosted by One World, One Voice taking place
at the Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco. I hopped out of bed and made
a hat with the leftover ruffles from "Slick" in 30 minutes. Then, I
headed to Whole Foods to pick up material to construct "Trash-A-Pus" for
the Re-Use Contest next Saturday. I met Susan Grelock who generously
gave me several vinyl banners to construct another wearable art and
various materials including waxed cardboard, thin wood from grape
boxes, and interesting asparagus containers. I took everything to
the O'Hanlon Center For The Arts, where Cayan gave me an opportunity
to make a presentation to the ladies in her Personal Creativity
Workshop. Carolyn took some great pictures of me in "Slick". The
ladies suggested stuffing Trash-A-Pus with plastic produce bags, so I
stopped a 2nd time at Whole Foods and picked up enough bags and shrink wrap to stuff
the 4 large bags I made out of the heavy plastic table liners I
rescued during the Annual Clean-Up Day at O'Hanlon. I drove into the
City and had a blast today sharing with people my Vision of raising
awareness about the Pacific garbage patch and the dual nature of
plastic. My dress, hat and knitted audiocassette tape Mobius strip
scarf was a huge hit at the festival. Plus, Marin TV interviewed me
for the event and Plastic Soup invited me to be part of their video.
During the Eco-Fashion Show, people wondered out loud why I wasn't on
the stage modeling my Haute Couture!

Hot Off The Press on view at COM

Come to "Last Call", the final art gallery show at COM to see Elise's
wearable cocktail dress, constructed by sewing and fusing NY Times
plastic bags, from April 26 through mid-May.

Slick

Here's the  first dress I ever made from recyclable trash bags.  I am "hot to trot" with my nifty little iron from Clover.  I fell in love with ruffles and found an easy way to afix them to the shell dress I made by molding the plastic over a dressform.  My husband gave me the title for this piece.  When I asked him why "Slick", he said, "because it refers to oil and something cool!"

Elise

Aim High - A dress made from recyclable Target bags

I collected enough Target bags to make a dress that fits me called "Aim High", and submitted it to the Artfully Reclaimed show at MOCA in Novato.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Juror, Fisher likes it and that it will be on view May 26 - June 10.

Welcome to Hot Off the Press!

Thanks for checking out my new blog, where I will be posting pictures, videos and my news letter about my sewn and fused wearable arts made from recyclable plastic.

Elise