shirts-skins

Shirts & Skins: Margaret Parker

Ann Arbor Art Center
May 15 - June 24, 2007

Shirts & Skins
Cotton T-shirts, cut apart and reconstructed,
explore how the individual has been swept
up in the aftermath of 9/11 and the conflicts in
the middle east that have followed. Each
T-shirt is kept as a whole, nothing is cut off or
left out.

Method
I considered each T-shirt as a geometric shape
that could be cut apart and reconstructed into
something new. My approach was similar to the
pieces I'd done in bronze and Plexiglas , but the
cotton was extremely pliable once cut, and could
be made into both 2 and 3 dimensional work. The
color of the shirts and the logos, text, and pictures
printed on them gave each piece an individual
character.

Army Time, 2005
1 cotton T-shirt, wire ,Plexiglas,
3’-7” x 3’ x 9”

E Pluribus Unum, 2005
1 cotton T-shirt, felt backing
7' x 6'

Holy Land, 2005
1 cotton T-shirt, wire, 10'w x 15.6'l x 5'ht
(size varies with installation)

Abu Ghraib, 2005
1 cotton T-shirt, wire
6'-6" x 2'-4"

Gitmo, 2005
1 cotton T-shirt, wire
5' x 2'-4"

Nest , 2006-7
40 cotton T-shirts, wire, pipe,
8 ft. ht. x 6.5 ft diameter, hangs 2' above
the floor, seen in the front window of
the Ann Arbor Art Center. T-shirts from
the women's movement, feminism and
related women's issues

Secrets of the Pentagon, 2005
1 cotton T-shirt, felt backing
5'-5" x 5'-5"

Scream, 2005
1 cotton T-shirt, wire
6'-4" x 2'-6"