Eco Art High Heels A-Peels to Shoe Lovers

Hello footwear fashionistas, my name is Claudia Lynch, shoe artist.  For my first  “Claudia Bares Her Soles” feature for shuzsociety, I wanted to showcase the artwork of Jan Hopkins, who uses natural materials to create interesting eco art high heels that definitely make a statement.  Let’s just say it “a-peels” to shoe lovers.  (Read on … you will see just how clever that is!)

A few months ago, I saw a Call For Entries for an exhibition called “The Perfect Fit — Shoes Tell Stories” at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachussetts. Of course I knew they were calling out to me personally; the only problem was, they were only accepting 3-dimensional work and I could not convince them otherwise. For a short time I thought maybe I’d put together a solo show for myself at a nearby gallery, but since the town didn’t seem to be loaded with galleries and I didn’t know the area at all, that did not materialize.

Washington artist Jan Hopkins had the great good sense to be a 3-D artist, and her work became the iconic image for the show. She made a pair of very colorful, very beautiful shoes out of — get ready for this — grapefruit peels and cantaloupe peels!

I am not making this up. Nor is it an isolated incident for Jan, who creates wonderfully crafted sculptures of objects like dresses, bowls and teapots out of unusual natural materials. I tracked Jan down via her website, and naturally (pun intended, of course) had a few questions for her.

I think shoes say a lot about the person who wears them; they are a statement of one’s identity, real or imagined.

I enjoy making objects that are challenging to make. I made the first pair because of the “Perfect Fit” show. I decided to make a second pair to document the excitement and fervor over the nomination and inauguration of Barack Obama. What a time in our history! I took two of his campaign slogans and put them together to say “Yes we can change”. Obama’s head is placed purposely in the heel of the shoes (head over heels), and forms the “O” in Obama.

I was trained as a basket maker. Indigenous people all over the world made baskets from materials in their environment, and no matter how formidable the environment or the material, they found a way to use it and create functional baskets. I was fascinated with the idea that you could find materials in nature and process the material to make a basket with them. I noticed that there were more and more restrictions on gathering traditional natural materials, so I took a lesson from the “ancient ones” and searched for materials in my own environment that were readily available and that I could find in abundance.

I spiral cut the peel and peel it from the fruit. I dry it and re-wet it when I am ready to use it. I cut pieces from a pattern, sew them together and dry them over a mold.

No, they’re not wearable.  (BUT, they DO “a-peel” to shoe lovers!)

I am a full time artist, living 25 miles North of Seattle. I have four children; they are all out of the house now. I am married to another artist, Chris Hopkins, a painter. We are both full time artists. Our life revolves around art, family and friends.

I have a pair of black and silver Privo shoes. They are the most comfortable shoes I own!

I love the look of stilettos, but I haven’t figured out how to walk in them. If I owned a pair I am sure they would be in a glass case, displayed rather than worn.

Jan, I think at least one of us should grab that visual image of a shoe in a glass case and create a piece of art out of it!

The Perfect Fit — Shoes Tell Stories”

Fuller Craft Museum

Brockton, Massachussetts

Through January 3, 2010

See more of Jan Hopkins’ work —

Jane Sauer Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.

SOFA Shows: www.sofaexpo.com

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