With the intention “…to alter perceptions and undermine expectations,” the upcoming Shape Shifters exhibit by Joplin artist Margaret Roach Wheeler and five of her fiber arts colleagues will be doing just that for Shape Shifters: Paper, Fiber, Form, at Spiva March 11 through April 14.

For starters, the entire Main Gallery will be transformed into a maze formed by suspended silk and fabric panels. Venturing through this soft labyrinth of color and translucency, viewers will come upon larger spaces featuring handcrafted wearable art, inventive garments, and sculpted attire created by the five Missouri artists joining Wheeler for this show.

“All of these artists work with the relationships between clothing, the body, and the psyche,” notes Wheeler, who curated the exhibition. “Clothing shifts our shapes, while also shaping our bodies. On another level, there can be a shift in how we see ourselves, as well as how we are perceived by others.”

Suza Wooldridge, a dyer and weaver from Hartsburg, Missouri, is the most traditional of the six artists. Her finely woven wearable jackets and coats begin with 60 to 90 yards of white warp threads laid out on tables, which Wooldridge hand paints before weaving.

Sharon Kilfoyle specializes in shibori, an elaborate style of Japanese silk tie-dyeing visible in kimono pieces that express a kinship with Japan. Her sculptural kimono, “Cyber-Samurai,“ is constructed of computer parts, floppy disks, and telephone wire, back-lit with twinkle lights.

Betsy Roe and Carlene Fullerton explore attitudes and perceptions in their mixed media collages. Fullerton’s three dimensional pieces such as “Alchemy” are made of various paper, fabrics, stitchery, beads, and found objects to explore how dress changes both physical appearance and mental perception of one’s self and others.

Roe uses cast paper to create two-dimensional relief images of “animated” dresses. Although body-less, each dress expresses an “attitude” and personality conveyed through the pose. Roe also will display two Nail Dresses, elegant evening gowns made of welded nails.

Artist Leandra Spangler has fabricated human-sized, paper doll outfits from handmade, cast paper. Spiva visitors may try on the paper costumes made to honor heroines Brunhilde, Sarah Bernhardt, Josephine Baker, Sacajawea, Amelia Earhart, Cleopatra, or Joan of Arc. Spangler, who also makes paper vessels, is “dressing up” the containers with buttons and zipper imprints for the Spiva exhibit.

Visiting the mystical side of fashion, Margaret Roach Wheeler delves into the Native American mythology of shape-shifting, where animals are transformed in to humans and shift their shape at will. She presents “Crow Girl” and “Wolf Man” in an environmental setting.

Two of Wheeler’s garments, “Messenger” and “Fort Sill Apache,” will be worn by shape shifting “mannequins” Rebecca Luebber and Sonya Harris at a preview reception for the artists, sponsors, Spiva members, and guests, March 10. Members of the American Association of University Women, Joplin Branch, will host the reception; Michael 2-Leaf Meadows will play traditional Native American flute.

“This is a tantalizing and thought-provoking exhibit that explores the transformative power of dress,” said Spiva director Jo Mueller. “The artwork will be so varied, and the gallery itself will be made into six very different environments where each artist, through her own method, choice of materials, and creative sensibility, achieves the merger of art and fashion. Besides, it’s not every day you get to dress up as Brunhilde!” she added.

Upstairs in the Regional Focus Gallery, work by Kansas artists Sherri Wilkins and Nicole Meyer comprise the Figure & Adornment exhibit. Wilkins, from Galena, and Nicole Meyer, of Pittsburg, present an exhibition of painting, sculpture, and wearable art.

Wilkins focuses on the female figure as her subject matter. Issues important to her concern the traditional roles and imagery associated with women. In particular, Wilkins has chosen the pear as her personal icon for womanhood. In some instances, pears are the subject matter, as in her paintings. Other times, pears appear as symbolic decoration, as seen on her life-size torsos.

Along with a selection of paintings, Nicole Meyer provides original “adornments,” uniquely fashioned in sterling silver and alternative materials such as epoxy resin. Meyer, who teaches art at Girard High School, spends most of her studio time in painting, jewelry making and clay. Her most recent jewelry pieces have been influenced by workshops at Haystack Mountain School of Craft (Deer Isle, Maine) and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg, Tenn.).

Shape Shifters: Paper, Fiber, Form is sponsored by Upstairs Boutique and Newton’s Jewelers, with additional support from Friends of St. Avips and The Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

Spiva Center for the Arts is located at 3rd and Wall in downtown Joplin. Spiva galleries and gift shop are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is by voluntary contribution.

For information, or to arrange interviews, please contact Spiva at 417.623.0183.

George A. Spiva Center for the Arts
222 W. 3rd Street
Joplin, Mo 64801
Tel: 417-623-0183
Fax: 417-623-3805
www.spivaarts.org