| Title: Dress Armor
Artist(s): Thea Lanzisero
Other Collaborators: Purchased by the Town of Huntington Public Art Initiative with the assistance of various private donors.
Year of Creation: 2010
Medium: Welded steel (painted)
Approx. Dimensions (HxWxD): 5 x 3 x 3 ft.
Description: A life-size white dress made of welded steel "bagel chips" stands upright as if worn by an invisible person. (See text of artist's statement below.) For additional information on this work click here.
Markings/Inscriptions: Text on Interpretive Plaque: This dress was created as a contemplative sculpture that connects memory, loss, femininity and hope. This is a full-scale sculpture of a young woman’s dress reminiscent of the era of Anne Frank and reflective of Anne’s childhood innocence and adolescent hopes and dreams. The empty dress plays tribute to the young woman whose life was cut short, symbolizing our temporary physical presence here while connecting the threads of lasting memory.
My work has explored the dress as a form and symbol of feminine identity. I have explored this form through handmade paper maquettes, tree dresses out of bamboo, sewn paper costumes, and finally a steel child’s dress. I want the pieces to convey gesture and movement, although they are static.
I’m interested in creating bold feminine structures that encompass a balance between nature and manmade. In a body of work inspired by the circle, I meditate on feminine aspects of egg, birth, and cyclical patterns. Individual circles are constructed to balance solid form with negative space, allowing light and air to flow through. Playing with negative space as an equal element, the exoskeleton forms engage the viewer to visually “fill in” information or look through and beyond. These armor-like lace structures are vulnerable yet fearless.
Hamlet: Melville
Street/Site Location: Anne Frank Memorial Garden in Arboretum Park
Owner/Administrator: Town of Huntington
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