Weekend in New York

I am just back from a long weekend in New York.  I attended the American Style Symposium at FIT where I also viewed the American Beauty and the Day to Night exhibitions. Plus I managed to squeeze in visits to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for the Tim Burton show and the Contemporary Drawing show, the Whitney Museum of American Art to see the Georgia O'Keefe abstracts, and the Frick Museum to see the drawings by Watteau, Degas and Boucher. It was four days filled with art and fashion and I'll be posting about these exhibitions in the coming weeks (in between catching up on my regular life, striking my show at Launch Projects, birthday celebrations and Christmas shopping). Happy Holidays everyone!

Profile of an Artist: Noel Palomo-Lovinski

Noel Palomo-Lovinski is the artist behind Confessions and the Sense of Self at Kent State University Museum.  In this question and answer format post, I have interviewed Noel about her work.

1. What is your background and education?

I have a BFA in fashion design from Parsons the New School for Design, an MA in Visual Culture from New York University and an MFA in Textiles from Kent State University. Currently, I am an Assistant Professor in the Kent State Fashion and Merchandising department. I have done a lot of freelance work and worked at places like DKNY, Episode and Anne Crimmins.


2. Are textiles your primary form of artwork or do you do other forms of art as well?

My background is in fashion design so drawing and illustration are major parts of my design process. They do not result in a final art piece though. I am not currently represented by a gallery.



3. How long were you working on the Confessions project?

I have been working on this subject area since 2003.


4.  What did you find most surprising about the confessions that you read?

The most surprising aspect was how universal so many of them were and how different image can be from reality.


5.  What is your next project?

I haven't gotten there yet but I would like to perhaps explore more sculptural aspects in connection to fabric and, of course, confessions.


6.  Where do you find in inspiration for your work?

I read a lot. I hear a lot of issues brought up with other women I know that mirror my own concerns and I start to see patterns.



7.  Who is your favourite fashion desginer?

I have many but I greatly admire the work of Hussein Chalayan, Rei Kawakubo, and Alexander McQueen.

Confessions and the Sense of Self: Works by Noel Palomo-Lovinski

 

In the exhibition Confessions and the Sense of Self at Kent State University Museum, Noel Palomo-Lovinski has explored the themes of women's roles and self image. She has designed and created clothing  layered with meaning through shape, texture, fabric and embellishment that as a whole functions as sculpture. Anonymous confessions by women were obtained through public websites and used as design elements in portraying the "tension that exists between the enduring archetype of the caring female and the nature of such contradictory confessions".

Using dress as a visual metaphor for identity, the exhibitions include:
I Feel Great!
Bridezilla
All Tied Up in Knots
Hold It In
Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety
Twisted Sister
Levels of Confession
Mother Love
Camouflaged Confessions
Suck Punch
Family and Friends

I was particularly taken with I Feel Great! and Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety and Noel kindly gave me permission to show images of these works. 
 

 

I Feel Great! by Noel Palomo-Lovinski 

 

I Feel Great! (Detail Shot) 

Noel wrote that "Polite conversation often includes the rhetorical question 'How are you doing?' The expected response is 'Fine; great, how are you?' The under-layer of the dress is candid confessions in red; the top layer exhibits expected responses. The muzzle signifies a suppression of blunt or truthful thoughts."

 

Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety by Noel Palomo-Lovinski

Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety (Detail Shot)

About this work, Noel wrote "In our current society women are often expected to be a type of superwoman, ambitiously working in a career, be a loving and patient mother, expert housekeeper and true partner in her marital relationship. There are several websites that are devoted to confessions from women who are not able to cope with the demands that they feel from society, their families, their partners and employers. They seek advice, comfort or just use the websites as a sounding board for their anxieties."

I encourage you to check out the entire exhibition here. Noel Palomo-Lovinski's hauntingly beautiful work is a fusion of fashion, art and sculpture.

Confessions and the Sense of Self: Works by Noel Palomo-Lovinski
Kent State University Museum
Rockwell Hall
Kent Ohio
Phone: 330-672-3450
Email: museum@kent.edu