Riverside Museums

A friend and I took a vacation day last Friday to see Material Girls at the Riverside Art Museum. Of course, we waited until the last week to see the show. By the time you read this, it has already closed. It is too bad because all the art in the show was worth seeing.

I really liked the above dresses in unconventional materials. Unfortunately, I forgot the artist's name. They are made in silver vinyl with pink fake fur, pink clear vinyl, metal window screening, glue gun stick, and twigs. Click on the close-up of the pink dress and you might be able to read the words detailing all the multiple things mothers do in the course of their day. It sounds like a day in my life.

The Riverside Art Museum is housed in the former YWCA building which was designed by Julia Morgan. The museum is worth a visit even for the architecture alone. Afterwards, we ate lunch in the lovely atrium.


It hadn't occurred to us that Riverside would have two museums near the Mission Inn. When we asked directions, we were first directed to the Riverside Metropolitan Museum. Once we saw the banner outside for "A Celebration of Japan's Textile and Costume Traditions", we had to go in.

There were several gorgeous wedding kimonos.


Click on the close-up of the embroidery for a higher-res image.

The shading of the threads in another wedding kimono is incredible. Click for a close-up.

There were humbler costumes like this indigo ikat farmer's outfit. The farmers lead such hard lives, yet managed to surround themselves with beauty through great effort. It is such a contrast to "fast fashion".


Links
I dabble in shibori sometimes. See the Shibori Slideshow and Dye Workshop for photos of the process.