Art ability’s all stitched up

By EMMA SUN
UP-AND-COMING artist Chloe Girschik may only be 20 years old, but don’t let her age fool you.
The Montrose resident was recently selected as a finalist in the Art U Wear Challenge for her fairytale-themed dress, which will be on display at the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair.
Her dress, titled ‘Wild Swan’, was based around her favourite childhood book of the same name and created around the theme ‘The Fairest of Them All’.
“I took elements from the story and incorporated them into my design, the black bodice represents a bird’s eye view of the wings of the swan, while the head piece is a more literal representation of the Swan’s face,” she said.
Ms Girschik is currently studying visual arts at RMIT and experiments with a range of media, including print making, sculpture and ceramics.
She said fabrics were her favourite medium to work with, and spent about two full days all up making the dress in the exhibition.
“I did a lot of experimentation as I’d never done appliqués before so I did practice runs with it, using satin, chiffon and lame.”
She said she was very excited to have her work featured in the exhibition and hoped to eventually pursue a career in art.
“After TAFE I plan to go to uni to do fine arts and eventually become an artist, and I’m also thinking of doing arts therapy or something along those lines,” she said.
“I will definitely keep it up – doing art is my prime goal.”
The Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair will be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre from 26 July to 29 July.