21st Century Paper Dolls
I’m always fascinated by trompe l’oeil painting. You know it when you see it but you still can’t believe what you’re seeing. This visual illusion in art literally “fools the eye” into perceiving a painted detail as a three dimensional object. Like these costumes made of paper. Really.
Optical illusions were the order of the day at a major exhibition I just experienced at The Baker Museum in Naples, Florida entitled, Isabelle de Borchgrave: Fashioning Art from Paper.
Dramatically staged life-size renditions of historic clothing and accessories for adults and children were “created completely from artfully painted, pleated, crumpled, and manipulated paper.”
Ditto for the delicate lace on Renaissance gowns, the buttons and pearl adornments and even the sparkling sequins on a 1920s flapper dress.
All constructed from only three types of paper.
As someone who played obsessively with paper dolls as a little girl, this exhibit spoke to me. A childhood fantasy come alive thanks to a 73-year old Belgian artist who gets my vote for Best.Job.Ever.
Not surprisingly, de Borchgrave’s first toys were pencils. She covered everything in sight with her drawings which led to a formal art education at age 14. After finishing school, she channeled her talent into advertising (for a short six months), painted silk, designed and sewed clothes for her friends and even drifted over to interior design work.
Eventually de Borchgrave opened her own studio designing clothing, jewelry and accessories before focusing on fabric design.
What I love about this passionately engaged artist’s story is how each phase of her career was preparing her for her ultimate destiny. In 1984 she visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York where the idea struck her to create paper costumes inspired by great works of art.
De Borchgrave’s critically acclaimed portfolio of historically-inspired paper sculptures is extensive. Her recreation of Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress for the Kennedy archive in Boston speaks to the significance of her work.
“It was dusty and fragile, wrapped up in black tissue paper," de Borchgrave recalled. “The silk was dead, you couldn't touch it any more. It was preserved like a relic. The original is dead, but the paper one brings it to life again.”
The exhibition in Florida (unfortunately closing May 5) showcases paper sculpture masterpieces exploring 300 years of fashion history; Italian Renaissance costumes portrayed in Old Master paintings; the glamourous designs by Spanish fashion designer Mariano Fortuny; and fantastical ballet costumes designed by the likes of Picasso and Matisse for Les Ballet Russes.
The late French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, described Isabelle as “one of a kind; with a single sheet of paper, she creates the most beautiful dresses, the finest costumes, or, simply, a chain of white roses...Whether it becomes a shoe, a hat or a few strings of pearls, [Isabelle plays] with paper as a virtuoso plays an instrument."
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. — William Wordsworth
Anita Alvare (bio) Alvare Associates (610) 520-6140
Isabelle de Borchgrave Fashioning Art From Paper The Baker Museum
