Art prize sews seed for fashion collab

TWO Ballarat fashion creatives and longtime friends have been hard at work for the past few weeks.

Koshka Art Fuelled Fashion’s Kat Pengelly and Clare McEldrew of Clasch Design have been designing a collaborative piece to enter into the first-ever Infuse Art Prize. Organised through Ross Creek Gallery, the competition was launched in February to get region’s creatives making shared projects.

Pengelly and McEldrew are doing just that with a couture-inspired piece which the former said is a blending of their instincts.

“We’ve got our own distinct styles but there’s heaps we resonate together with. The drapes you see on the mannequin, we both had a really similar creation in mind,” Pengelly said. “One of the fun things we’re trying to incorporate are our colour identities: Pink [for Koshka] and red [for Clasch Design]. Some people say you shouldn’t put those together because they clash, so we’re having fun with that.”

McEldrew and Pengelly have been collaborating following the latter’s show at the Art Gallery of Ballarat in 2011.

“Clare’s done some pattern-making and garment construction for me before on shows,” Pengelly said.

“She’s helped out on my Fashion for Funerals show and more recently she’s assisted me in designing and making my first pair of denim jeans for a show at Radius Art Gallery in Hepburn last year.”

McEldrew said it’s been a joy to partner with a likeminded artist.

“It’s a challenging thing to collaborate and to bring our vision into one,” she said.

“You have to be open to taking on different ideas while still being true to yourself. It works well with us because we’re very open together.

“I’d really like to see this piece become a wearable piece of art with a sculptural couture influence.

“I really value working with Kat because there’s not many of us sewers and designers left in Ballarat who you can bounce ideas off.”

Entries into the competition will close on Friday 25 October after which they’ll be displayed at Ross Creek Gallery from Friday 6 December until Sunday 22 December.

The winners will be announced on opening night by head judge and Art Gallery of Ballarat curator Julie McLaren, with $3,000 in prize money to be awarded.