Susan Holmes (born 1941) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

fabric artist. She is known for her 'fantasy-inspired'

wearable art Wearable art, also known as Artwear or "art to wear", refers to art pieces in the shape of clothing or jewellery pieces. These pieces are usually handmade, and are produced only once or as a very limited series. Pieces of clothing are often made w ...

pieces and use of

stencilling Stencilling produces an image or pattern on a surface, by applying pigment to a surface through an intermediate object, with designed holes in the intermediate object, to create a pattern or image on a surface, by allowing the pigment to reach ...

and

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

dyeing. She has won 19

World of Wearable Art World of WearableArt (WOW) is an internationally recognised design competition, attracting entries from more than 40 countries each year. The competition features wearable art entries, which are judged on durability, the safety and comfort of t ...

s awards.

Early life

Holmes was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 1941. In 1961 she studied a home science degree at Otago University and lectured there for two years following her graduation. After this she travelled abroad through

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. These experiences influenced her methods of dying and printing, after witnessing block-printing in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and silk-dyeing in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Career

Susan Homes first sold her printed clothing through the Trina J Boutique in Auckland. Her first prints were onto 'Indian style' voile shirts. In 1971, Holmes began to make and sell fabric through Brown's Mill, a craft co-op in Auckland. This market operated on Saturday mornings before this considered acceptable in New Zealand. It was known as a place for independent artists and alternative fashion. The fabric and clothes Homes sold here were all hand-dyed and she experimented with using potatoes to produce the prints. She spent twelve years at the co-op. She first entered her designs into the Benson and Hedges fashion awards in 1974, winning the 'fantasy award' in 1978. This was a significant event in Holmes' career as it marked her transition from wearable fashion into wearable arts. Her first entry to the World of Wearable Arts was in 1988. Susan established a broad repertoire of fabric art skills over four decades. Largely self-taught, Susan created a unique stencilling too which she called her cloud technique. In theory, it is a simple technique, used to cover up printing errors, but the subtlety of the outcome underlines the mastery, as neither the clouds or the errors stand out in the finished garment. In the 90s she designed costumes for the television shows '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and ''Greenstone w''hile continuing to enter wearable arts competitions. In 2002, Prime Minister Helen Clark wore her design ''Crest of a Wave'' on the catwalk at the World of Wearable Arts Awards. In 2016, Auckland

applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univers ...

and

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

gallery Objectspace held a retrospective of her work and published a book alongside the exhibition.

Awards and recognition

1978, 'Fantasy Award' ''Benson and Hedges Fashion Award.'' 1988, Winner in Evening section, ''Mohair Awards, New Zealand'' 1991, Runner Up for ‘''The Great New Zealand Cloak’ Competition'' (for ‘Wild Places Cloak’) Compendium Gallery, Auckland 1993, Winner Silk Section: New Zealand Wearable Art Awards. Runner up to Supreme Award. 1994, Winner Wool Section 1994 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards Highly Commended in Pacific Paradise Section, 1994 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards. 1995, 'Highly Commended' in silk section, Nelson Wearable Arts. (Magic Feather Dress) Finalist in ‘Visual Symphony’ Section, 1995 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards. 1996, 'Supreme Award', Nelson Wearable Arts (Dragon Fish) 1998, Winner 1998 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards, Transformation Section 1999, Highly Commended for Silk Section, 1999 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards 2001, Finalist in 2001 World of WearableArt Illumination Section. 2003, 'Highly Commended' in Kimono section, World of Wearable Arts Awards (Blue Lagoon) 2004, 'Creative New Zealand Artistic Excellence Award' World of Wearable Arts Awards (Miro Personage) 2005, "Highly Commended' in Creative New Zealand Artistic Excellence Award' World of Werable Arts (Cage of Thorns) 2006, WOW CentrePort Shape It Section winner for ‘Fluroessence’ 2006, Winner 2006 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards Shape It Section ~ ‘Spots and Stripes’ 2008, Winner 2008 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards: Avant Garde Section 2009, Winner 2009 New Zealand Wearable Art Awards: WOW Factor Award 2010, Invited Guest Artist, New Zealand Wearable Art Awards

Exhibitions

2013, ''Off The Wall: WearableArt Up Close'', Auckland War Memorial Museum. 2016–2017, ''Susan Holmes:Fabric Artist,'' Objectspace.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Susan 1941 births Living people New Zealand fashion designers New Zealand women fashion designers