Shoes step out of fashion and into art
The Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Ballina is set for some whimsical boots coming their way this month with The Pendragon Boot Company’s remarkable exhibition Arts Shoes presented by the Queensland Arts Council and Friends of the Northern Rivers Community Gallery.
Cobbling since 1987, Art Shoes artistic creators Jackie Orme Ward and Adrian Lockwood founders of the Pendragon Boot Company, take the humble shoe to a new level – and turn it into an artform.
Their workshop, a confusion of leather and lasts, tools and creative chaos is located in an old tin shed at Maroochydore on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
It is a creative hub supplying fairytale stars and leading theatre companies with the finest of footwear.
“We use a lot of vegetable tanned leather in our shoes, a medium that lends itself to augmentation through embossing, painting and dying. It’s these techniques that bring real life to the work, each shoe developing a unique personality,” Ms Orme Ward said.
The Pendragon Boot Company has provided footwear for artists appearing in Opera Queensland and Queensland Theatre Company productions, as well as interstate production companies, such as Simon Gallagher EssGee Entertainment and Company B.
Their work also appeared in the Warner Brothers films Peter Pan and Scooby Doo.
In conjunction with Art Shoes will be two other exhibitions by local artists in response to the themes of wearable art and shoes.
The Art of the Garment in Gallery 4, features the work of talented local artists in response to the theme of wearable art. This exhibition explores the concept of ‘garment’ in both its functional and abstract form.
Embellished, in the Foyer Gallery, features the work of Lyn Cochrane. This exhibition draws inspiration from Art Shoes and the Art Deco period. It features embellished shoe bags, gilded boxes and jewellery.
Exhibitions are open to the public from August 5th with the official opening on Saturday August 15th at 2pm.
Image Credits:
1. Pendragon Boot Company, Sea Slug, 1996, 20 x 30 x 30, leather, EVA, rubber platforms
2. Painting by Katka Adams exhibiting in the in Art of the Garment exhibition.
