Eco Trash Couture
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I am thrilled to be a part of six new events in Northern New Mexico this year. Usually Recycle Runway takes me out of the state, so it is a pleasure to be spending so much time in my beautiful community. Here are the highlights:
1. Exhibition in the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe
Nancy and Eco-Flamenco, Opening Night at the NM Museum of Art
I am excited to have my work on exhibit in the New Mexico Museum of Art through September 7, 2012. It is part of the Museum’s Alcove Shows that can be traced back to the 1917 founding of the Art Gallery of the Museum of New Mexico. The museum is continuing this tradition with a cycle of nine exhibitions that will include forty-five artists from across the state. Five artists are being exhibited for five weeks at a time. It is an honor to be part of this historic tradition and exhibit alongside some of New Mexico’s most inspiring contemporary artists!
2. Honor from the New Mexico Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts
In the beginning of August I was privileged to be honored by the NMC NMWA at their Women and Creativity luncheon. The audience was full of museum directors and curators, gallery owners, artists and people that support the arts in various ways. I gave a 10 minute talk about my work and showed a couple of my recycled garments. I was really touched to be honored by such an influential group of women (and men) that support the arts!
3. The Next Big Idea Festival in Los Alamos
I have been helping the County of Los Alamos organize their first Trash Fashion Contest on September 15th. It is part of the Next Big Idea Festival, an event designed to inspire, illuminate and educate through science, technology and the arts. In preparation for the contest I will be giving two trash fashion workshops for both beginning and advanced students/artists during the weekend of August 25th. If you live in the region, please join us, it will be a lot of fun! Contact Tom Nagawiecki with Los Alamos County at 505-662-8383 to register.
4. Albuquerque Mini Maker Faire
Transformed T-shirt back
On September 23rd I’ll be giving workshops all day on transforming T-shirts into new styles and accessories at the first ever ABQ Mini Maker Faire.
If you are not familiar with Maker Faires, they are the World’s Largest Show (and Tell) festival—a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement. It’s a place where people show what they are making, and share what they are learning. Makers range from tech enthusiasts to crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists, engineers, artists, science clubs, students, authors, and commercial exhibitors. Also this event will be part of another VERY COOL event called the the International Symposium on Electronic Art, ISEA2012 Albuquerque: Machine Wilderness which explores art, technology and nature.
These are new audiences for me and I am really excited to be part of this local and international community exploring the connections between art and science!
5. TEDxAcequiaMadre in Santa Fe
On November 3rd I will be giving my second (!) TED talk at Santa Fe’s first TEDx event: TEDxAcequiaMadre. My talk is called: “Undressing the crime scene—addressing how to slow climate change”. In this talk I will describe how a dress can be an agent of change and will undress Crime Scene—my most provocative garment to-date, to reveal the personal and planetary violence it embodies. I will also issue a call to action, reflecting current thinking on addressing global warming. There will only be 100 seats available for this event so if you are in the area, buy your tickets soon.
6. New Recycle Runway Garment promoting Energy Efficiency
This summer I was awarded a fellowship from Toyota and the Audubon Society called TogetherGreen. Over the next year I will create and institute an energy efficiency curriculum for 6th grade students in Santa Fe. The project will culminate in a new Recycle Runway garment that documents the amount of CO2 avoided by the students during their assignment. I will share more details on this exciting project as it progresses.
Last month I indulged myself in designing a new recycled fashion sculpture JUST FOR ME! Though I love the way that some of my projects more structured parameters influence my garments, it felt luxurious to dive into the purely aesthetic experience of creating Re-visioning Erté! I’d like to tell you about the three aspects of this piece that made it especially fun to create: 
1. Erté- For years I have been pouring over this incredible designer’s work. If you are not familiar with Erté, he was a Russian-born French artist who created very whimsical designs, most notably during the art-deco period. Some of his designs were made into actual garments, but many were not, because they were often impossible to wear. You may have seen his illustrations in old Harper’s Bazar magazines– I have always been inspired by his fanciful creativity! Designing a garment inspired by Erté was pure pleasure!
2. Silk – After years of working with materials like shower curtains and convertible soft-tops, I yearned to work with natural fibers that flow and drape. I remembered that a long time ago my Mom gave me some beautiful silk scraps, leftover from a jacket she made for herself. While working on Re-visioning Erté I thoroughly enjoyed the feel of the silky material on my fingers and the lovely subtle colors.
However, the recycling bin is always close at hand, and I could not help but accent the front of the dress with aluminum cans cut into elegant little shapes and engraved with an old pen!
3. Miniatures – You might not realize it from the photos, but this garment stands only 33 inches tall! For years all of my work has been full size and wearable, but recently I have enjoyed the freedom gained from taking these requirements away. For example, the cape on one of my pieces made last year called the Environmental Steward-ess, is bolted into the dress-form making it impossible to be worn. Making miniature garments seemed like another interesting direction to explore. The dimensions of this dress-form are approximately one half of a woman’s size 10 form. I made it out of foam scraps left over from Astilli Fine Art Services, the business that crated my Obamanos Coat sent to the Smithsonian last year. (They are also going to crate 18 more pieces for my traveling exhibition’s upcoming museum tour– but that is another story, stay tuned.)
I wondered if creating a smaller fashion sculpture would take less time, 
and the answer is: yes, and no. The garment itself actually took about 55 hours to design and create because the unusual design required a lot of tinkering to get it just right. However since the dress was so small it did take less time to cut, prepare and sew all of the aluminum accents. (Thank you to Samantha Brody, my new intern from the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, for helping to cut the aluminum cans.) My other garments have taken from 100-650 hours to complete, this piece took me about 100 fully enjoyable hours to create!
Re-visioning Erté will make its début this week at an exhibition called the Art of the Dress at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, New Mexico. I was invited to participate in this show by Susan Berk the Chair of the Board of Directors for the New Mexico Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The exhibition will be on display from March 16 – April 15, 2012.
I look forward to seeing everyone’s response to my winter indulgence!
In December I had the adventure of a lifetime traveling in India for three weeks! I was mesmerized by all the beautiful colors and patterns everywhere I looked– saris worn by women riding on the back of motorcycles, bright ornamentation on trucks carrying rubble, and tiny red bracelets and garlands of marigolds as offerings in roadside temples– the eye was always resting on something stunning!
This amazing trip was made possible by some international plane tickets that I received as partial payment for the Environmental Steward-ess garment that Delta Air Lines sponsored last year. It is a part of my current exhibition on display in the Atlanta Airport through May 2012.
While visiting this wonderful country, my partner, Nicole, and I were fortunate to visit a very special program in Mumbai called MarketPlace: Handwork of India. It is a fair trade, not-for-profit organization which creates lasting change in the lives of low-income women in India. An impressive 480 artisans are organized into 14 independent co-operatives which produce women’s apparel and home decor. In addition, programs offer educational and enrichment opportunities designed to help the artisans overcome personal, cultural and financial obstacles.
We were warmly welcomed to a gathering of about 20 primary staff members with a cup of masala tea (chai), a rose, and red powder blessings placed on our foreheads (bindis). As we sat around a circle with the whirring of the fans keeping the room cool, I gave a brief description of the recycled fashions that I make from trash and the environmental education goals behind my work. Then each staff member described their role in the MarketPlace while the team leaders explained the focus of each of their co-operatives. Many had beautiful samples and talked about their teams with great pride. Most of the work they do involves sewing and embroidery – clothing, purses, oven mitts and even computer bags. Like any successful garment business, MarketPlace has multiple designers (from around the world,) a quality control department, beautiful (and educational) catalogs, plus an excellent website and blog. I was impressed at how many of the staff had been with the organization for so long… some for over 25 years. MarketPlace is clearly more than an employer; it is a close-knit family that cares for each other!
Yogesh, pictured in the photo with me on the right, was our very gracious
guide and translator for the afternoon. He gave us a special tour of several of the nearby workshops, many of which were located in one of the large city slums. We toured through some of the corridors and alleys behind the scenes off the major streets on the way to the various workshops. In one alley we saw a beautiful canopy of lanterns and flowers from the festival of lights celebrated in November.
At one of the workshops we met the manager’s wife who delighted in assisting us with picture taking and his daughter who wore a very clever smile and pranced cheerfully in her school uniform. Visiting the workshops and meeting the women that worked there was such a great honor and delight. The spaces themselves were very simple and some might be, to American standards, a bit crowded. But they are clearly very productive, and all the women were very good natured, laughing and talking. The close knit relationships were very clear and the banter, though we could not understand it, was delightful! Often someone would translate or ask us a question in English. One of the really neat things that MarketPlace provides is the capability of the employee to work at home since many of the women are mothers and wives who are also tending to a family.
MarketPlace is designing new products using “chindi”, scrap pieces of fabric. They 
asked us for design suggestions and we have been giving ideas as they come– hopefully they will be of some use. I’m sure, however, that their VERY creative group of artists and designers will have no shortage of fantastic ideas! On the right is a photo of a “patchwork fabric” they have created with scraps that can be made into any number of items.
Before we left, we watched some of the women practicing a play about domestic abuse. Even before it was interpreted for us, we were moved by the passion of the women. It was sad to learn about the role that in-laws (especially mother-in-laws) often play in domestic abuse. The issues of arranged marriages and dowries complicate the problem as well. This play is presented to the public for educational awareness and discussion of a topic that can still be taboo.
My favorite part of the day was captured in this photo. We spent a long time sitting and chatting with a group of artisans in the afternoon. We asked each other questions about our work and personal lives. I was stealing up-close peaks at their beautiful saris and scarves, thick black hair and lovely gold jewelry. Though I felt quite plain in comparison, I caught several curious glances my way too. Our day with the women and men who work for the MarketPlace rivaled even the exquisite Taj Mahal for my favorite experience in India!
Crime Scene
Police tape is fashioned into “warning-wear”.
Tape from police crime scenes across the west, cover a dress made from torn table cloths. This cautionary costume took 50 hours to create and was completed in 2011.
Read a blog post about creating Crime Scene.
__________________________________________
Scientists estimate that everyone alive today carries within her or his body at least 700 contaminants.
90 percent of the 85,000 synthetic chemicals registered today in the United States, have NOT been tested for their effects on human health. Many of these chemicals persist in the environment and accumulate in our bodies creating susceptibility to cancer as well as many other health problems.
Don’t let your body be a crime scene! Reduce your families exposure to toxins by eating organic food; eliminating pesticides, chemical cleaners and air fresheners from home and work; and “air out” new carpets, painted rooms, furnishings, and anything else with that “new smell” before indoor use. Better yet – buy safer products that don’t off-gas toxic fumes.
Sources: Coming Clean, Breast Cancer Fund, Healthy Child/Healthy World
Nancy wearing the Caution Dress during her TED talk
Over a year ago I asked my cousin, Grant, and my friend, Michele, who are both police officers, if they would save “police tape” from crime scenes for me. Within about 6 months I received big tangles of yellow tape, some with stories I did not want hear. I also began gathering “caution tape” from less dramatic locations on the side of the road. A big pile of bright yellow plastic sat in my studio like a bunch of spaghetti for another year before two perfect dresses presented themselves to me.
The first was The Caution Dress. I was scheduled to give a TED talk in Albuquerque, and needed something memorable to wear. Because of the message of my talk, buying a new outfit was definitely out of the question! What should someone who designs clothing from trash wear when she is being asked to talk about what she does?Well, something made from garbage seemed pretty obvious! Further, I wanted my visual image to be a quick summary of my talk regarding my concerns about the effects that humans are having on the earth. A dress made from caution tape seemed like the obvious answer! View my TED talk and read my blog post about the experience here.
Crime Scene
The second dress, it is called Crime Scene. It is made from police tape that reads: “Crime Scene Do Not Enter”. At first I thought it would be an edgy and fun garment, but soon I realized that this piece is very serious… for me it’s the most provocative work of art that I have ever created. It is about many forms and levels of violence: It is about sexual abuse. It is about the destructive effects of the fashion industry on the people who grow, sew and model clothing as well as those of us who are made to feel inadequate in numerous ways so as to “feed” the industry with consumers. It is about the destruction we have done to the body of mother earth. It is about the over 200 toxic chemicals deposited in each of our bodies from our poisoning of the earth.
No, this did not end up being a fun dress. But like many of my pieces it is deceptive. From afar people may find it to be an appealing design, and only upon closer inspection will they discover some of the deeper meanings.
Crime Scene, The Caution Dress and Eco-Flamenco, which I made this fall in Grand Rapids, will join the rest of my 18 garments on exhibit in the Atlanta Airport (International Concourse E) in about 2 weeks. They will be showcased through May of 2012 in a new case that the Airport has just built in the entrance to the concourse, at the top of the escalator.
As the year comes to a close I want to thank all of you who have supported me in many ways as I installed my exhibition in the Atlanta Airport, presented my TED talk, created new garments in Evanston, IL and Grand Rapids (Eco-Flamenco), and gave numerous workshops around the country. It was a busy year, and I could not have done it without the help and support of so many of you! I look forward to an equally, exciting year in 2012! Stay tuned….
Crime Scene photographed by Jay Studevant.
This past Sunday I was honored to be the featured artist in the 3rd annual Green Arts Show in Evanston, IL, just north of Chicago. I was asked to create a new dress from recycled plastic bags to bring attention to an ordinance being considered by the Evanston City Council that would ban retailers from giving plastic bags to customers. A ban that I wish every City had! The organizers collected a bunch of reclaimed plastic bags and sent them to my studio in Santa Fe. For some reason, I immediately envisioned a 1920’s flapper dress made from layers of plastic bags ironed into silky looking fabric. (Back to that topic later.)
Anne Berkley, my host, asked me if the dress could be partially created in a public workshop prior to the opening. Though I wondered if I would be able to finish the garment before the opening, I agreed. Luckily a wonderful group of about 20 people came to my rescue, and workshop! After a presentation on my work, I taught the group how to create “ruffles” from compostable bags, and “fresh-water pearl necklaces” from white plastic grocery bags. I was amazed at how quickly they learned from my harried directions—what a helpful and talented group of women, men and children!
Amazingly, we finished the dress just as the exhibition began! I slipped on my new Caution Dress, created for my TED talk the previous weekend, and enjoyed a lovely evening talking with the talented artists in the show, and the devoted members of the Citizens Greener Evanston committee that organized the event.
A little back story to this adventure– when I landed in Chicago, I immediately began thinking about my maternal Grandmother, Mimi, who was a very glamorous and fashionable woman. And while waiting for my luggage, I received an unexpected e-mail from my Mom reminding me that Mimi had grown up in Chicago, and had even lived in Evanston for a while. Evidently in 1920 she attended Northwestern University in Evanston at the age of 15! As a girl she skipped ahead two grades in grammar school. But her parents decided that the University was too big for such a young girl and sent her instead to the Art Institute of Chicago to study interior design. After graduation she received a job at Marshall Fields Department Store designing display windows.
On this trip to Evanston, I bega
n to wonder if Mimi has been looking out for me all these years. I remembered that it was during my last trip to Chicago 5 years ago that the idea of showing my work in airports came to me like a bolt of lightning. And last week I found out that a prominent museum in Chicago is seriously considering hosting my exhibition of 20 garments after the show leaves the Atlanta Airport next year! I also realized that my love for vintage clothes, which so influences my sense of design, was born from the photos and actual dresses of my glamorous grandmother.
Which brings me back to the flapper dress I made for the Green Arts Show. Where did this inspiration come from? As I thought about the day in my studio in Santa Fe when the image of the flapper dress appeared in my mind’s eye, I wondered if Mimi was with me…inspiring me to create a dress similar to what she must have worn in the 1920s when she was a designer in Chicago!
Recycle Runway Exhibition in the Atlanta Airport
The dust has settled from my two week adventure in Atlanta installing the Recycle Runway exhibition, “waste does not exist, only wasted resources.” I have returned, finished up some minor details and gotten some well needed rest.
After three years of preparations, eighteen of my recycled fashion designs are now on display in nine cases throughout International Concourse E. To access Concourse E take the “Plane Train” (AKA the Concourse Shuttle) or just walk from any one of the concourses or the main terminal. (Note to Atlanta residents: Concourse E is on the secure side of the airport, so you will need a ticket to get there.)
I started the first week with a presentation on resources to some students at the International School in Atlanta sponsored by Novelis. Whenever I go somewhere to install an exhibition or make a new garment I like to give school presentations and working with kids is always a thrill – their minds are so fresh and innovative I always end up learning from them.
Introducing the Environmental Steward-ess to my sponsors, Frank and Aaron from Delta Air Lines!
On Wednesday we held a big launch party for my show at a sustainable furniture company called “Environment”. I had arranged a number of my garments, including Delta’s new Environmental Steward-ess, amid the furniture made from reclaimed, recycled, and sustainably harvested wood, so all night guests were weaving in and out of the display – truly a visually interesting mix! Approximately 50 people turned up including the press, some of my sponsors, local designers and artists, community environmental activists and even a few friends. But the best part of all was finally meeting some of the people that are sponsoring this exhibition and supporting my work.
I spent the rest of first week meeting Katherine and David from the Airport Art program, settling preliminaries like which size and style of pedestals to use in the airport art cases, and returning in the evenings to my vacation rental to prepare and eat the chard I had smuggled on the plane. For those of you who are interested, chard travels well.
Transporting the Dresses Through the Concourse
I had no idea what I had really signed up for in the second week when we finally began installing the show! Nothing can prepare you for working in an airport. It is so very different from being in one for travel only. You really have no idea how dazed people are in new, large and busy surroundings, trying to keep track of their luggage and keep their families together. I felt as though I got a fresh peek at what I must look like traveling thither and yon.
I had agreed to do the installation between 7 PM and 4 AM so we came in for work while the airport was still hopping and within the next couple of hours would begin winding down for the day. Yes, the
Floor Polishing Equipment
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport actually closes down somewhere between 11 and midnight and the empty halls begin to fill will all kinds of cleaning apparatus and work relations banter. Imagine the number of night staff you have to have to maintain the busiest airport in the world!
Inside the halls of Concourse E Katherine and David trekked vast distances from case to case, applying vinyl lettering and information placards while I and the fourth member of our team, Nicole, spent hours and hours locked in a windowless room filled with my dress forms and garments and a wide variety of other art installation materials. It began to get a little surreal as I unboxed the pieces and prepped the garments for their “in case” debut but I was eventually grateful that I couldn’t really tell what time it was and I was so busy I didn’t care. Our little team was actually fighting to get the installation done within the time we were given – 3 nights.
Applying the Vinyl Exhibition Titles
The amazing and very sweet compliments of the night staff kept us going as we pushed dollies full of dresses throughout the concourse. Bleary eyed we’d exit every morning at 5 AM heading back home to sleep, eat and take a nap before doing it all over again. We squeezed every last minute out of our allotted time and in the end everything just fell together. It was a truly inspiring piece of team work and I am so thankful to all those that helped!
This exhibition would not be possible without the support of my case sponsors: Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Janome, and Novelis and my Green Partners: Earth911.com, the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Georgia Recycling Coalition, Keep America Beautiful, Keep Georgia Beautiful, the Phoenix Airport Museum and the Turner Foundation. And of coarse thank you to my host, Atlanta’s Airport Art Program! It is such an honor to be part of their impressive group of permanent and rotating art exhibitions! If you have been through this airport before you are sure to have noticed all the great art…my favorite of the permanent collections are the Zimbabwe sculptures in the walkway between Concourse T and A.
Thus far the exhibition has received great press, in the last couple of weeks articles have appeared on the front pages of cnn.com and yahoo.com. I have received so many encouraging e-mails from all over the world!
Well, as mentioned, I did have a few details to iron out when I got home. There is a short video presentation on the show and my work that CNN will run throughout the airport for the entire year the pieces are on display but we have had a hard time finding the requested digibeta tape. RESOURCE RE-THOUGHT Number 1 – The terrible earthquake and tsunami from March 11 that devastated Japan has also taken its toll on many of the electronic resources for the entire world. The reason that the digibeta tape has been so hard to get is that most of the manufacturing of these tapes is done in Japan. Where do your resources come from?
See more photos of the exhibition installation on my facebook page.
Yahoo
Designer turns trash into high fashion.
By Joanna Douglas, Shine Staff
April 25, 2011
Read article on-line.
Designer and environmental educator Nancy Judd creates wearable art out of recycled materials
Once an odd and unusual concept, in recent years, “recycled clothing”—that is, wearable garments made from unconventional materials—have become more and more mainstream . Most every season of the reality show “Project Runway” features a challenge where contestants use non-traditional items to create new sartorial designs, and more than a few young women have made duct tape prom dresses. We’ve even seen edible dresses made out of eggplants and bubblegum. That said, we love seeing people get creative with their fashion, especially when they re-purpose used materials and send a positive message about recycling.
Artist and environmental educator Nancy Judd, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, turned down a spot on “Project Runway” because she’s happy with her own project, Recycle Runway. She creates high fashion from what others may perceive as trash, all while teaching people about conservation.
“I love taking garbage—something that people want to push away from and not think about—and transform it into something elegant,” Judd recently told CNN. “I love when they look at a dress and say, ‘Wow, those are bottles or cans,’ or whatever.” While she says maybe designers are doing good things, she likes remaining an outsider. “I am an artist making wearable art,” she told CNN. “I’m also not attracted to the fashion industry. It creates a tremendous amount of waste, and there are a lot of social justice issues.”
Judds work has been displayed in malls, museums, and airports across the country, and her latest exhibit will be featured at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this week. Don’t worry if you can’t make it—we’re highlighting the best pieces here. First up: The Glass Evening Gown. This stunning dress is made from 12,000 pieces of crushed glass! The Glass Packaging Institute commissioned this gown and the glass jars and bottles used came from the City of Albuquerque’s recycled program. The foundation for the garment was made of old upholstery.
Flip through the slideshow and head over to Recycle Runway for more on Judd’s creative designs.
CNN
Wearable art plucked from trash
By Michelle Hiskey, Special to CNN
April 22, 2011 9:24 a.m. EDT
Read article on-line.
(CNN) — Nancy Judd turns an orange rind into sequins. A can of Coke becomes shiny bangles. Plastic bags melt into chic crinkly fabric.
What others call trash is her high fashion.
Her newest creation is “The Environmental Steward-ess,” a 1940s air hostess suit sewn from leather seat covers donated by sponsor Delta Air Lines. Judd stitched the suit’s superhero cape from safety cards once found in seatback pockets.
Her apparel is more for learning than wearing.
“I love taking garbage — something that people want to push away from and not think about — and transform it into something elegant,” said Judd, 42, of Santa Fe, New Mexico. “I love when they look at a dress and say, ‘Wow, those are bottles or cans,’ or whatever.”
After her cocktail dress made of vinyl Obama-Biden banners made it to the Inauguration, Judd declined a spot on “Project Runway.” She prefers grass-roots projects that she details on her website Recycle Runway.
“I am an artist making wearable art,” she said. “I’m also not attracted to the fashion industry. It creates a tremendous amount of waste, and there are a lot of social justice issues, although a lot of designers are doing good stuff.”
Her work has been displayed across the country at shopping malls, museums and airports. The latest installation of her “Recycle Runway” exhibit of 18 eco-trash garments will go up this week at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Judd recently spoke with CNN.com about her creative process.
CNN: How did you start making recycled fashion?
Judd: My mother owned a gallery and directed a college of art, and I spent my whole life in art classes. I loved to sew. In college, I got a degree in art and sociology. One year, my art school got a new pop machine. The garbage can next to it grew with all the pop cans. Seeing them thrown out just seemed wrong. I put a recycling bin next to the pop machine. I started wondering: Where does trash go? Who picks it up? After that, my career path was in solid waste and recycling. As the recycling coordinator for Santa Fe, to promote a weekend-long exhibit of recycled art, I threw together a little outfit made of bubble wrap. Each year, I made another dress, getting more and more intricate. Now, I can’t imagine using anything but trash. If somebody gave me a $200-a-yard fabric, I would be at a loss.
CNN: Besides the landfill, where does your art come from — the vision?
Judd: Honestly, it feels like divine intervention. Artistically, I have a sense of confidence that doesn’t really line up with the rest of myself. I don’t know why I can say to Delta or Toyota, “Send me your waste and I will create something I know you will love.” All I can say is that my art comes from a spiritual, creative relationship that is so interesting to me.
CNN: Do you have a favorite piece?
Judd: That’s like picking a favorite child. The Eco-Dress really pulls together everything. It’s a Scarlett O’Hara-style dress made of [scrap paper] pledges written by 2,000 children across the country. Having people involved really feeds the mission of what I’m doing.
CNN: Do you use a special sewing machine?
Judd: I use a regular one from my sponsor Janome. I’ve sewn inner tube tires fine, and the soft top of a Toyota convertible.
CNN: Explain how the stewardess cape of safety cards only looks cheery.
Judd: The cards are really colorful, really whimsical. I researched the super-heroine Wonder Woman, created in the 1940s — the same era this type of suit was worn by Delta stewardesses — by a psychologist to provide a strong role model for young girls. In addition to her invisible plane and bulletproof bracelet, Wonder Woman was given a lasso of truth that made men be honest. This garment is about being a role model who is strong and stands up for the environment. The safety cards are scenes of people preparing for a crash. The cards ask, “What if?” That sort of emergency is happening around the world with the environment, because of our decisions. My art is about what we can do in our lives to live lighter on the Earth, and to prepare ourselves. Like the safety cards, the message is about conservation and preparation.
CNN: What details are less obvious?
Judd: The cape looks windblown because of the wire armature holding it up, made from yard signs from the Obama campaign.
CNN: How much do you charge for a commission, and who pays?
Judd: About $10,000. A dress will take anywhere from 150 to 450 hours to make. The contract allows me to keep the dress for future exhibitions. I only work with organizations that are doing something substantial for the environment. One of my sponsors, Coca-Cola, is creating bottles that are plant-based and has started the first bottle-to-bottle recycling plant!
CNN: What are some of the environmental hazards of creating eco-conscious art?
Judd: I only iron plastic outside. I wear a heavy-duty respirator mask around chemicals and when I drill metals.
CNN: Is your tetanus shot current?
Judd: It should be, but I don’t think it is.
CNN: What size are your dresses?
Judd: For a while, I made all my pieces about a size 12, because honestly, I was the only available model.
CNN: Describe a future piece.
Judd: The Biodegradable Dress starts with cheesecloth — a lot of people in Santa Fe make their own cheese. Attached are sequins in a turn-of-the-century pattern. The sequins are being made in public workshops from oranges and tangerines. After eating, people punch peels into small circles and dry the circles on a pin.
This dress will be sturdy enough to last 100 years. Throw it on a compost pile, and it could disappear in a month.
Michelle Hiskey writes occasionally about the creative process for CNN.com.
Terminal U
Delta Air Lines’ superhero stewardess uniform unveiled
The Environmental Steward-ess
April 14, 2011
Read article on-line.
A “superhero stewardess” uniform, made entirely out of bits of Delta Air Lines scrap, is among the eye-popping pieces of eco-fashion gracing an exhibition at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport.
Delta Air Lines commissioned Nancy Judd – an artist known for turning trash into “couture fashion” – to create the striking uniform, which she has aptly named “The Environmental Steward-ess”.
It is one of 18 centrepieces on display at the artist’s “Recycle Runway” exhibition, which will run in Atlanta Airport’s International Concourse E until April 2012.
The uniform, and the matching accessories – a hat and purse – have been sewn from worn-out leather seat covers from Delta planes.
The outfit wouldn’t be complete without a superhero cape – for a super cool throw-on and-go look.
The cape is made up of old safety cards, plane tickets, Delta Sky magazines and pretzel wrappers, stitched into worn pillow cases, before being lined with an old Delta blanket.
To wrap up, the artist used aluminum cans for the Delta logo, which is featured on the purse, hat and belt.
As TERMINAL U reported earlier this year, Delta Air Lines is among a few major carriers to join the “upcycling” craze, where cabin fixtures and fittings that would otherwise be discarded are refashioned into something of greater value- and sold off as fashion.
