The Wonderland of Dee Fontans

Dee Fontans in original wearable art creations.

What better way to celebrate the 5^th Anniversary celebration of Calgary’s monthly culture crawl (a.k.a.: First Thursday) than by having art walk on two legs?  Art Central, the Mecca of Calgary’s visual art scene, will literally be bringing sculpture to life when 47 pieces of Wearable-Art descend the open-air staircase in a fantastical catwalk of Galliano-proportion.

Set to hit the runway at 8pm on November 5, Art Central is saving the much-anticipated show, Regalia, for last.  Showcasing the work of ACAD’s Wearable Art – Object and Body Class, Regalia will show the work of 18 students, all guided by the force that is Calgary-based artist Dee Fontans.

Fashion designer, jeweler, enamellist, performance artist and instructor, Fontans is a multi-tasking artist who juggles her tools and her time with her own Calgary brand of Zen.  Fontans is both an ambitious entrepreneur and a mellow soul. “Mentorship is a privilege. It provides stability in my life and allows enough time for me to seek out my own opportunities,” says Fontans of how she balances mentorship with her own artistic career:  By responding to open calls or invites for exhibitions, Fontans keeps her own artistic impulses alive by ensuring she continues to articulate her own point of view; fitting about one exhibition a month into her teaching schedule.

Dee’s work is primarily “concerned with the female figure and the body, as an interactive context for garment design and performance.”
“Everything we create has an impact on people” says Fontans.  Fontans ensures that her students are aware of this by encouraging them to be socially engaged artists and reminds them that they have a social responsibility within their practice.

At the beginning of the term, Fontans brings historical references to class, overviews various materials and discusses each student’s personal practice.  Then striking while the needle and thread are hot, makes sure that the students act on their first impulse because by the second week of the class, an object is made.  “It’s very quick in terms of what’s produced,” says Fontans.

While students act on instincts, Fontans has a unique practice that ensures that they remain self-aware, every step of the way.  “They’re required to write statements about their passion for personal understanding of what they’re making.  Even though artists are communicators through their medium, the artist also needs to know who to articulate that message or point of view through words.  So writing becomes the foundation on which they create their pieces.”

And how does Dee assess the process, the artist and the art?  “I’m not a believer in perfection. Perfection can paralyze.  I believe in being a peak performer because depending on time and skill, I strive to do my best.  This is what allows me to continue learning.”

Fontans has learned a lot about herself as an artist, over the years.  She recounts her time at the Parson’s school of Design in New York City, as an example of one her biggest learning-curves.  “There was this one time, back when I was a pretty impulsive person, where I was working on a garment at 3am and I just started cutting fabric.  It was just a bad decision. I just knew I shouldn’t be a fashion designer at that point in my life. The next day, I redirected my creative studies at Parsons and went into designing jewelery as my artistic focus”.

A series of events would bring the artist back to fashion, full-circle, with a few new skills in tow.  “Jewelry making came into my life and it taught me patience with myself and my materials.  Then an accident challenged me again: I caught my hand in a machine and broke my hand in 3 places.”  The massive cast prevented her from working with clasps and chains so she let other materials be her guide. “I was making rubber necklaces that would drape to the waist and gigantic hats made out of wire.”

From playing with new materials, the romance with fashion was rekindled and Fontans began creating garments in new ways; ways that have become the backbone of her work and have infused the work of some of Calgary’s hottest emerging artists.

Words by Amy Lynn Strilchuk

For more information about Dee Fontans go to: www.deefontans.com

The Wearable Art class will present Regalia, Thursday, November 5, 2009 at Art Central.