7S Mentor Spotlight: Garbage Glamorously Upscaled

And the winner of the Kootenay Fem award is Shauna Davis, Seven Summits Centre For Learning's very own Art Education teacher. 

The Rossland Council for Arts and Culture presented the Art of Adornment, a gala event to celebrate wearable art created by Kootenay artists, on May 14th in the Miners Hall. The gala is accompanied by an exhibition of all the ensembles and accessories at the VISAC gallery until June 27th.

The event features a fashion show of wearable art ensembles and a display of accessories competing for prizes in multiple award categories. The stunning and unique dresses, hats, accessories and outfits display a creative use of up-cycling. 

Each ensemble was modelled on the catwalk at the gala show, while the artist's statement was read describing their inspiration, materials, and technique. Nothing is deemed unworthy of an artist's creative use from soda cans to paper bags to outright garbage. 

Winner of the Kootenay Fem category, Shauna Davis, states, "My piece is not just about how the dress looks on a mannequin. It is about the reflections and sounds it makes as it moves. My design, called 'Plenty,’ is a dress made of repurposed materials that were destined for the landfill. The base was made from a thrifted dress that was altered to change its silhouette. I then hand-cut and attached 'scales' made from the material used to package smoked salmon, in an ombre pattern. The reflection of the shimmering scales as my model walks in the bright lights of the catwalk truly brings my piece to life."

Davis’ design explores themes of excess and imitation. The dress contrasts a sense of strength and opulence with our modern food chain's excessive packaging and waste. 

Davis says her inspiration for the piece started with gathering the materials. The dress took over 100 hours to complete over the course of two years. Davis also won second prize in the Eco category for a fascinator she entered in the first wearable art showcase put on by the RCAC in 2020. This fascinator then became part of the vision for her ensemble.

The Kootenay Fem award is awarded for work that represents an individual’s artistic concept of a woman or ‘the fem’ in the Kootenays. "I am so honoured to receive the Kootenay Fem award for 'Plenty.' I appreciate the recognition for my hard work and creativity. It was a really exciting show, and I want to thank everyone who made it happen, especially my model Sarah Taylor.”

Davis is a community-building artist. She also mentors students in a Visual Arts Workshop at Seven Summits Centre For Learning. Her goal for the Workshop is to foster a secure place for students to safely tap into their creativity and express themselves. 

Contact information: For further media information please contact Seven Summits Centre for Learning Administrator, Tanis Shippy at info@sevensummitslearning.com 

Author: Tara Hauck, Marketing Coordinator Seven Summits Centre for Learning.

About us: Seven Summits Centre for Learning is an exceptional public high school experience that offers a blended learning model for grades 8 through 12 in Rossland, B.C. Please help us honour and promote our amazing students, past and present, by placing our articles in your newspaper.

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