Children of the Four Winds

The ancient Greeks imagined four winds, the Anemoi, each aligned with a cardinal direction and a season. Boreas was the cold North winter wind, Zephyros the gentle West wind of spring. Notos the South wind was the god of summer rainstorms, and Euros, the East wind, was active in autumn. I have imagined a daughter for each of these winds, bearing attributes of their seasons, communing with the birds of the air, and wearing a feather or two that blows in their wind.

Children of the Four Winds Digital photo on silk, fabric, feathers each 20 x 16 x 16 inches

Children of the Four Winds Digital photo on silk, fabric, feathers each 20 x 16 x 16 inches

The Daughter of Boreas, the North Winter Wind

The Daughter of Boreas, the North Winter Wind

The Daughter of Zephyros, The West Wind of Spring

The Daughter of Zephyros, The West Wind of Spring

The Daughter of Notos, The South Summer Wind

The Daughter of Notos, The South Summer Wind

The Daughter of Euros, the East Wind of Autumn

The Daughter of Euros, the East Wind of Autumn

In my studio working on the Autumn wind

In my studio working on the Autumn wind

First, I build a plastic armature to fill out the dress, then I harden it with fabric sculpting medium. Then I print the photograph on digital silk that will go over it, soak that with the medium and arrange it around the hardened dress beneath. I pay attention to the drape of the fabric and how I imagine the wind it blowing. After that hardens, I make minor corrections by wetting it and reshaping, then I add the final embellishments — sleeves, feathers, silk collars, lace.

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Fabricated Visions