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Brown Paper Bags Gone Wild, Or How I Learned to Creatively Recycle my Brown Paper Bags

Joyce Robinson is an artist who has worn many hats (or, actually, purses).  A former opera singer and music teacher, she now brings her soaring voice and strength of character to create the vibrant and fanciful handbags of Brown Paper Bags Gone Wild!

Robinson’s raw medium is the drab brown paper bag and with it she has wrought exuberant and, certainly wild, transformations.  Always anything but plain, her bags are ornamented with beading, feathers, natural fabrics (including linen, cotton, and mud cloth), and paint.  The sturdy bags have been used by her clients as functional handbags, table centerpieces, and artworks for home display.  

Robinson recounts an early memory of her mother curling her hair using torn strips of paper bags.  She has certainly proven that out of an everyday bag one can not only coif a child’s tender curls, but also ignite a Pygmalion-esque spark of the spirit.

Nomad Two Worlds: Aboriginal Australian Art in NYC

January 22-29, 2009

DONNA KARAN Stephan Weiss Studio 711 Greenwich Street (Corner of Charles Street) NYC

Urban Zen (founded by fashion designer Donna Karan) is hosting at the Stephan Weiss Studio a presentation of Australian aboriginal art and culture inspired by the Australian government’s reconciliation movement.  The week-long G’Day USA Australia Week is offered in the spirit of an apology (sparked by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Apology Speech of February 13, 2008 to the country’s indigenous citizens) and the promise of cultural cooperation.  The spotlight on Australia’s Aboriginal culture, the oldest continuing culture in the world, is part of Urban Zen’s wider cultural preservation and youth empowerment mission.    

On view for this week is a collaborative multimedia project Nomad Two Worlds created by Australian fashion photographer Russell James  together with Indigenous Australian artists, including Walmajarri singer and painter Clifton Bieundurry.  The painted photographs of Northwestern Australia evoke the sacredness of the land and a dual cultural portrait of Australia’s “Two Worlds”, those of European and Aboriginal heritage.  The exhibition is curated by Lisa Fox, proprietor of the IF8 Studio, and the artworks are divided into three concepts: Innocence (element of water), Inhibition (element of fire), and Discovery (element of stone).  These three aspects parallel the tripartite focus of Urban Zen, which are framed by the past (preserving cultures), present (patient advocacy and well-being), and the future (empowering children).  Urban Zen honors the transformative power of creativity and compassion to raise awareness. 

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