“immune” by Marina Dempster

It was easy, when I was little, to imagine myself inside fairy tales; to think Peter Pan might come to my window or enchanted lands appear in my closet. Though I’m more than old enough to know better, nothing’s really changed. There is a part of me that will always believe in outlandish, magical things - and what’s more, I’m thoroughly convinced my life is better than if this was not so. It’s also one of the reasons I’m perpetually delighted by clothing and costume. Dress is instantly transformative; an accessible door to other worlds and selves. To me, there is a particular magic in the collaboration between clothing and art. It is intimately relatable yet untethered by reality - endless possibilities in the shape of me.

So imagine my delight when, on a very dull winter morning, I saw these:

Designed by Marina Dempster, these extraordinarily ferocious shoes are such stuff as the rulers of kingdoms should wear. (Just last year, WORN was fortunate to have Dempster participate in our ART & SOLE shoe redesign exhibit with a pair of gold-winged Keds.)

From now until the end of the month, the Ontario Craft Council (as a participant in the Toronto International Design Festival) is showing an exhibit entitled Body + Object: “Eighteen artists explore the relationship between the body and the many forms in which it can ornament, present and represent itself.” While, for me, these shoes were the highlight, once I tore my eyes away I found the rest of the work fascinating and lovely and definitely worth seeing.
- g.

Tags: exhibit review, g. stegelmann, marina dempster, ontario craft council, shoes