Brooke Russell

ARTIST STATEMENT

Thesis Title: Shoe Revue

“Iconic”. As somebody who works in the fashion industry, it is a word that is constantly used but never really understood completely. What does it really mean to be iconic, and what elevates something to iconic status? Being surrounded by shoes as well as the notes of the designers who make them all day made me interested in breaking down this question. My work explores these concepts, as well as examining the shoe not just as an object but as a piece of art and design.

Through my explorations involving all elements of the shoes chosen, I have attempted to both differentiate and yet also link these aspects to come up with a complete picture of the shoe depicted. In the process I have come out of this project with a new appreciation for shoes in general. We so often overlook these objects as just something we wear on our feet, and forget the amount of time, effort, and design skill that is required to create a shoe, let alone one that will eventually be called iconic.

As a result of this new mindset, the approach I took to rendering these shoes changed over time, eventually deciding on using a pop-art inspired style, alluding to the common theme of questioning what and what is not art prevalent in both that period and within my project.