Mandurah artist Helen Coleman brings Icarus back to life

Ms Coleman, who specialises in encaustic art, designed a Leonardo Da Vinci-inspired Icarus garment for the extravagant showcase.

Her Icarus Rising piece features a pair of ancient bone-looking wings with handmade waxed feathers that adapt to the human body to allow the models to flap the wings.

Ms Coleman, who is also one of this year’s Contemporary Arts Spaces Mandurah (CASM) artists in residence, used Powertex to texture the bone frame and wax to create the feathers.

The piece is inspired in the Greek legend of Icarus, the son of the master craftsman who attempts to leave Crete with his father by using a  set of wings made of wax and feathers.

His father warned him not to fly too close to the sun, but Icarus ignores his advice.

The heat from the sun melts the wings and both fall in the sea.

The artwork hopes to use the old legend to showcase man’s ingenuity and determination to realise their age-old dream to fly, Ms Coleman said.

In order to transform her design concept into a reality, Ms Coleman embarked in a long journey of learning and trying out new sculpture techniques, experimenting with beeswax and other mixed media to create realistic feathers.

"Taking up the challenge to create a piece for Wearable Art gives artists an exciting opportunity to explore new techniques and new media,” she said.

“These new skills are already benefiting my art practice and broadening the possibilities for me as an artist in the future."

Her new skills have also allowed the artist to hold an innovative sculptural vessel workshop for Mandurah’s young emerging artists to learn new techniques.

The workshop, which was part of the City’s Masterpieces 2K17 competition, was held at CASM’s workshop space on April 9.

This year’s Wearble Art showcase will be held at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (MPAC) on June 10 and 11.