Fur Teacup Dress

20" x 30".

Hand painted and printed cotton, fake fur, feathers.

Fur Tea Cup Dress refers, art historically, to Surrealist Meret Openheim’s famous fur-lined teacup. This shift epitomizes our desire to tame and “civilize” the wild. This desire is evidenced in our penchant for making things out of the animals we continue to destroy for profit, without heed for their preservation or quality of life. Since the fur-trading days of the Hudson’s Bay Company, we have brought many species to the point of extinction to fulfill fashion’s dictates. Our preference for the tamed over the wild is also manifested in our on-going fascination with zoos and other institutions which preserve species without preserving their intrinsic way of life.