Lenore Orlowska-Warren

Porcupine Shoes…A Fashion Defense in a Plastic Society
handwoven platform, shoes: aquaplast, dye, magic clay & telephone wire
18 x 17 x 5 in.

Standing on Pins & Needles
handwoven platform, shoes: aquaplast, dye, magic clay, straight pins & safety pins

Homo sapiens have indulged in some form of footwear since at least 3000 B.C. With the evolution of man, footwear has evolved from a status symbol to basic needs of protection due to extending circumstances, necessitating the need to protect the human foot from the environment, since man’s soles did not include a hard hoof or substantial padding.

As a fiber artist, I see shoes as a tool of communication within the present needs, concerns, politics, and turmoil of our society. Using the weaving loom I start with a weaving that becomes a communicative cloth and then create my shoes with aquaplast (plastic) to focus on a social concern that is current in our present society. Living in a world that is fact moving, and filled with artificial and synthetic products, plastic has consumed man in more ways than just material goods. It has influenced our morals, beliefs, and character!

© Lenore Orlowska-Warren