North Canterbury News: October 17, 2019
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Rubber outfit stretches imagination<br />
Imagination gone wild<br />
... Amy Roberts’<br />
ensemble, The<br />
Phoenix,was<br />
recognised at the<br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />
Wearable Arts<br />
Awards. PHOTO:SUPPLIED<br />
By RACHEL MACDONALD<br />
Amy Roberts uses art to<br />
expressherself,whetherit’s<br />
colouring or styling clients’<br />
hairatwork or designing<br />
fashion at home.<br />
She needs to be busy, and<br />
her imagination seems<br />
boundless.<br />
Last weekend, the Cust<br />
hairdresser took awayafirst in<br />
the <strong>Canterbury</strong><strong>2019</strong> Wearable<br />
Arts Awards, hosted by Art<br />
Couture New Zealand.<br />
This followsawin in the<br />
adults’ section of the <strong>2019</strong><br />
<strong>North</strong><strong>Canterbury</strong> Wearable<br />
Arts competition late in<br />
August.<br />
Both gowns weredesigned<br />
and handglued or stitched<br />
around adressmaker’s<br />
mannequin in her sitting room.<br />
One is made out of individual<br />
jigsaw bits and the otherof<br />
stylised ‘‘feathers’’, but<br />
weighing enough that it had to<br />
be divided into aseparate<br />
bodice and skirt.<br />
The first gown,currently on<br />
show at the Oxford Museum,is<br />
called The Sky is the Limit.With<br />
abodice, train,fascinator,and<br />
bracelet, it was created<br />
painstakingly from puzzle<br />
pieces separately hotgluedon<br />
to acutaway underskirt. That<br />
dress was all aboutgiving<br />
something ago, tryingtocreate<br />
something beautiful whether<br />
you fail or achieve, saysAmy.<br />
‘‘If you achieve, that’s great.<br />
But if you fail, I’vecome to<br />
understand, you get an even<br />
better steer on what youcould<br />
do better, whatideas might<br />
workbetter next time.’’<br />
Art Couture asked her to<br />
submit the samedress for the<br />
<strong>Canterbury</strong> show,but Amy had<br />
other ideas.<br />
In this case, the classwas<br />
called Here We Go Again,<br />
where every garment had to<br />
comprise 70 percentrecycled<br />
product. So, with just four<br />
weeks to work with, andalways<br />
up for achallenge, she started<br />
lookingaround for new<br />
materials to repurpose.<br />
The gown started out being<br />
madefrom bicycle innertubes.<br />
Whentheyran out, Amy turned<br />
to car innertubes. Each<br />
‘‘feather’’ was painstakingly<br />
cut by hand, then spraypainted,<br />
beforebeing handstitchedontothe<br />
base<br />
garment.<br />
The crowningmoment came<br />
whenshe found an exploded<br />
❛Ienjoy art as a<br />
personal way to<br />
express myself and<br />
support the people<br />
around me, and some<br />
of those statements<br />
seem to resonate.❜<br />
—Amy Roberts<br />
steel radialtyre on the<br />
roadside, stopped the car and<br />
pickeditup—tothe horror of<br />
her daughter —took it home,<br />
extracted,curled andspraypainted<br />
the metal,and used it<br />
as the sculptural heart of the<br />
ensemble’s headpiece.<br />
The ensemble is called The<br />
Phoenix,building from ablack<br />
train,through red and orange,<br />
then to gold and pink through<br />
the bodice and shoulders.<br />
‘‘The mythhas it thatthe<br />
phoenix risesfrom the ashes,<br />
becomingstronger and wiser<br />
as it gainsnew life,’’Amy says.<br />
‘‘For me, the story —and the<br />
gown —isabout womenwho<br />
have faced,and overcome,<br />
depression.<br />
‘‘So many women aroundme<br />
have faced really hard<br />
journeys, diedalittle bit,but<br />
have come though it. They go<br />
from this dark place, and get<br />
back up on their feet in this<br />
new position of insight and<br />
power that makes themareal<br />
force to be reckonedwith.’’<br />
What doesthe future hold for<br />
Amy’s aspirations? First, she<br />
would liketosee both awardwinning<br />
gowns mounted in the<br />
windowofher hairsalon,<br />
Cedar Heights, in Cust. Second,<br />
she dreamsofdevising an<br />
ensemble that might qualifyfor<br />
the World of WearableArt<br />
AwardsinWellington.<br />
‘‘Thatmeansawhole<br />
audition process.<br />
‘‘Itwould be great to take<br />
some message to awider<br />
audience,’’she says.<br />
‘‘WithWOW, when you get to<br />
that level, you have to come up<br />
with an idea,auditionthe<br />
garment and presentation, and<br />
be accepted into the show. I<br />
enjoy art as apersonalway to<br />
express myselfand support the<br />
peoplearound me, and someof<br />
those statements seem to<br />
resonate.<br />
‘‘I’d love to see wherethat<br />
could go.’’<br />
NEWS<br />
<strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>October</strong> <strong>17</strong>, <strong>2019</strong><br />
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