Marisa Williams, "Funkn' Fairies"

Fantastical, erotic, tribal artwork had an opportunity to strut down the catwalk at the elegant Court House Chamber Lounge late in the evening on Friday, September 29th. Rachael Posthumus, a third-year fine arts student at York University, had fairies and half-nude men display her designs in her art show premier.

Posthumus dressed three female models in ordinary t-shirts and tank tops made unique with printings of the artist’s original work. Though the shirts appear simple with black ink on plain white and teal shirts, the three are stunning examples of Posthumus’ skill with ink, with “sassy” use of letters (two of the shirts said sassy on them), elaborate lines and creative use of positive and negative space. The toile skirts bring thoughts of graceful ballerinas into mind; however the mini-skirt lengths and unsymmetrical gatherings of Posthumus’ ballerina skirts made them sexual and wild. Combined with bare feet and hand-made wings of toile, nylon and leaves, the final result captures not only the magical nature of fairies but also their primal, untameable side.

The four male models, though wingless and less mystical, continued the naturalistic feeling of Posthumus’ art with tribal markings painted on their faces. Attempting to achieve an erotic, sexual feel, Posthumus left her men shirtless and hand-painted their chests in her designs with the same blues, greens, blacks and whites as the women. The colour scheme adds to the natural feeling of the artwork; the greens and blues representing trees, grass and water, the blacks and whites bringing to mind the night sky with the moon and stars. It is as though Posthumus has created modernised costumes for Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as the outfits worn by her models make one think about the fairies, the Amazon queen Hippolyta, and the primordial feeling of the four lovers in the heart of the moonlit woods.

Yet at the same time, Posthumus’ artwork had a contemporary flare. The women were decorated in a collage of styles, with contemporary, funky hairstyles, casual shirts, romantic skirts, and fantastical wings. The men were covered in a juxtaposition of temporary images and political statements. Posthumus described her artwork, especially on the males, as “installation art” as it only lasted for the duration of the show. Using fashion as her medium shows that she plays with the idea of artwork as a touchable, mutable, temporary thing; artwork is not something to hang on a wall but something to be touched, washed off, and worn. In a consumer society, artwork is now something to be bought and used practically instead of remaining stationary on the wall of a museum.

Music for the show, and for the remainder of the night, was put on by Matisse and the Playground, an R&B and funk band recently becoming more known; Matisse’s song “Better Dayz” can now be heard on the radio and he has opened for artists such as The Black-Eyed Peas. Ronin E-Ville, an electronica and funk artist, brought his beats to the show and complimented Posthumus’ York University talent, having himself received a BFA and MA in music from the school.