music
It’s one thing to be inspired by the colors and patterns of the natural world, but how to translate that inspiration into a design that humans might wear? I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.
ambience: Great Barrier Reef
What you are hearing are sounds from the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia, the place where painter and designer Karen Bierce was inspired to integrate the designs of nature into scarves and neckties.
“I had the privilege of snorkeling Great Barrier Reef. I was there for about three weeks, and for three weeks, I did not sleep from the excitement over color and design, and a phenomenal, beautiful underwater world of sea fans and angelfish. And I just felt that this should be someplace, and so I started playing with ideas – unlimited ideas for design in fashion – from nature. So we’re looking at developing form visually into something that is not too literal, but, in fact, some cases very, very mysterious. You will have to look very closely to see the starfish. The form of the starfish has been placed linking starfish up to starfish, in a very simple, elegant way, with beautiful color. And then we do variations depending on what the market is interested in seeing today. My preferences are the mysterious designs. We have some that are more literal, but in fact, if I have some animal like the Koala, design isn’t so much an issue to me. And that more literal representation is something that I’m very fond of because it very clearly represents an animal that I happen to love.”
Creating an alliance with The Nature Conservancy, Bierce’s Preservation Collection is meant to raise money and public consciousness for environmental concerns.
Pulse of the Planet is presented by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.
music