As humans, we basically move from container to container, from our car to our job to our home and so on. Once inside these "containers," our actions profoundly affect the space -- whether it's a zillion-acre estate or a shoebox -- as well as the environment around it.
Artist and designer Vanessa Devaki Andrew (aka "Madam Chino") celebrates this concept with "28 Earth Days in the Diarama," a provocative new show opening Friday, April 7, at Fasten Co-op Clothing Gallery, 2365 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
"In seeing (Fasten) as a container, I hope to realize our imposition on the spaces of everyday life," says Andrew.
Show seekers will have the opportunity to be a part of Andrew's "diarama" by adding to the display with on-site materials -- and the opportunity to shop for wearable and recycled art.
"View new species in wearable art! Be an endangered species!" says Andrew, 25.
In preparation for the show, Andrew created scores of zillion-dollar bills, and placed them in bars, cafes and other public places. At the opening, she will offer prepackaged nature items for sale, all of which cost exactly one zillion dollars. (One per customer.)
"28 Earth Days in the Diarama" kicks-off a myriad of artistic events celebrating Earth Day, observed this year on Saturday, April 22.
"The show builds from the thematic conflict of 'Man vs. Nature' by conceptualizing nature in the man-made space, and chooses to use found object and recycled material to represent our interaction with the natural world," says Andrew.
But all references to "man" aside, Andrew chose to spell "diorama" -- a miniature, life-like scene that may be remembered from grade school projects -- in a feminist-friendlier way. Andew spells the word "diarama" because "dio" means god and "dia" means goddess.
"I coined 'diarama' to represent the female formula in reference to the planet," says Andrew.
"28 Earth Days in the Diarama" runs through May 7, and will be open late on Gallery Night, Friday, April 21.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
