Fashion & Fantasy

The Sheldon Museum’s fall 2013 exhibit is “Fashion & Fantasy,” introducing selections from the museum’s vintage clothing collection paired with the unique, stunning, and imaginative couture creations from nature by South Burlington artist Wendy Copp. Her image of It Had to be You features a jacket from turkey and guinea fowl feathers and a skirt of hydrangea and sumac stalks and blossoms. It has been said that “Life in Vermont has all of the natural elements, flora and fauna, that are a part of design inspiration.” The exhibit will epitomize that inspiration, both by past designers and by Vermont’s own Wendy Copp.

Additional exhibit highlights will include gallery talks by Vermont-based costume, dress, and shoe designers, a textile specialist, as well as an international couture marketer. Vermont e-commerce and sustainability are subtexts of “Fashion & Fantasy.”

Artist’s Statement

My art, composed of natural materials, originates in the forest near my house. My pieces are the result of the cycle of the seasons and the lives of trees. Their sense of place unites with the sense of belonging found in the vintage clothing at the Sheldon. People from Addison County wore those clothes in the 19th century as they wed, attended funerals, performed their chores or sat for afternoon tea. Perhaps seen together, my work and the Sheldon’s clothing can converse on these subjects, as well as engage in a dance with society and The Call of the Wild.

Wendy Copp

Collection Images

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Artist’s Statement

I always had dreams of, but not really the mentality for, the life of a naturalist- a student of a species of bird or tree, so I could spend my time in the woods being quiet and watching, and learning. Through this work that I'm doing now, I have a new awareness in the forest. I am looking for ideas and they come when I'm passing by the plant life I've been looking at for almost 30 years, but not seeing with such openness. My art has led me to the identification of tree varieties, their  locations, how their leaves are shaped. I could make a map of the forest now.

Wendy Copp