ARTIST CREATES FLOWER BOUQUETS OUT OF FROZEN VINTAGE DRESSES

Nicole Dextras is an artist from British Columbia who makes striking installations with a cold twist. Dextras has created a line of Frozen Textiles that explores themes such as ephemerality and environmentalism. These textiles turn regular clothes into hanging icicles, ice blocks, and even a gigantic bouquet. Inspired by fantastical folktales and science fiction alike, Dextras' dreamy Bouquet installation embodies his fascination with reinterpreting the natural world. Dextras used only a spray bottle filled with water and the icy temperatures of Alberta to freeze a variety of fifteen 1940s and 1950s dresses. Each piece of clothing was gradually covered in ice over several days, turning their frills and full skirts into fabric petals. Dextras created a massive bouquet full of the “bright colours and the delicate details found in the biodiversity of the natural world” after each dress underwent this enchanted transformation. As predicted, this flower arrangement did not survive forever; according to Dextras, "It made its big splash in the wintery forest and within a few days it was gone."