Gaia in Motion

In Greek mythology, Gaia is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the great mother of all.

Tonight in our story, Gaia appears several times. First she is fully formed in this modern time. Then we look back to a time when Gaia is an emergent body in the universe. Gaia is dressed in all her beauty by the apparitions of her elements (children) and awakens to her full power and majesty. She is then given the gift of seeing herself both in the past and the future.

She is both the lessons of her children and their mother.

Earth Gowns performance

Air Dresses

Hot off the tape dispenser, these “air dresses” are made with non-traditional materials. The first step is wrapping a dress form in cling wrap, followed by layers of packing tape to build up the form. The next phase involves making many, many tape transfers (imagery) which are layered together to create the story of the dress.

Frida's Dress
So many women relate to and identify with Frida. It’s the combination of beauty and pain.

“Life will reveal [its secrets] to you soon. I already know it all. . . . I was a child who went about in a world of colors. . . . My friends, my companions became women slowly, I became old in instants.”

Gertrude’s Dress
A rose is a rose is a rose….

Summer in the Sea of Japan

GANNA WALSKA arrived in Santa Barbara in 1941, as a well-known Polish opera singer and socialite. She spent the next 43 years designing and creating the gardens of the Montecito estate she named Lotusland. The spectacular collections of exotic plants express her penchant for the dramatic, the unexpected, and the whimsical.