Garments — SHAE BISHOP

Rhinestone Rattlesnakeboy

Ceramic, underglaze, glaze, PE fiber, printed denim fabric, leather, rhinestones, metal, wood, paint, electric lights, etc.

2024

suit photos by Jack Mauch

installation photos courtesy of John Michael Kohler Arts Center

The Original Rhinestone Rattlesnakeboy project is an outfit and installation with an element of performance and social engagement. In an ornate western fair tent, wearing fully hand-crafted suit, I embody the Rattlesnakeboy persona to send a message of environmental conservation and appreciation for nature.

Partly inspired by self-taught artist and performer Loy Bowlin, the “Original Rhinestone Cowboy”, this project references the long history of cowboy entertainers and promoters from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, the Tom Mix Circus and the Roy Rogers Show, to the rodeos, fairs, and concerts of today. I combine these references with the genre of reptile attractions. The history of snake entertainments is rather dark, including the roadside serpentarium, the circus sideshow, and the “rattlesnake roundup” which involves the mass slaughter of snakes for spectacle. So, in my project, I shift the role of the snake from a nemesis, a shocking novelty, or a pest needing extermination, to that of a hero, an icon, and an ecological ambassador. After all, the cows that give cowboys their name are a domesticated species introduced by Europeans, and rattlesnakes have a far better claim to being a symbol of this land.

When the installation is displayed in a gallery, the costume can be displayed on a mannequin. I also wear the outfit during events and openings, speaking with the public and bringing the environment to life. The installation is designed to disassemble and travel to fairs, festivals, and other venues after the exhibition. The tent contains artwork, prints, and postcards about snakes, their behavior, and their positive impact on the environment. When wearing the costume, I speak with visitors about my artwork and passion for ecology, helping to assuage people’s fears and encourage learning and tolerance.

Bandana

Ceramic, underglaze, PE fiber

2022

photos by Loam

The red paisley bandana is as American as apple pie. Meaning, of course, that ingredients from Asia were taken and combined in Europe and imported to America where the result become an entrenched part of culture.

The word “bandana” comes from the bandhani textiles of India, which are patterned with a tie-dyeing technique. Through British colonization these fabrics were exported to Europe, where they became popular handkerchiefs in the 18th century. At this time there was also a growing craze for Kashmir shawls covered in elaborate leaf-shaped boteh motifs, a design which itself originated in Persia. European textile manufacturers raced to copy these popular shawls, most notably in the town of Paisley, Scotland. Ever since we have used “paisley” to describe patterns featuring boteh.

When the originally Asian “Turkey red” dyeing process was introduced to Scotland from France, it became a standard dye for textiles printed with “paisley” designs. America imported large quantities of paisley bandanas and some made their way to the frontier where cowboys wore them as kerchiefs to keep the sun and trail dust off their necks and faces.

Bandanas spread to many subcultures over time and are ubiquitous today. But whenever I walk past stacks of them at my local craft superstore, cheaply available in every color, I like to consider all the forces of early globalization that led to those little squares of patterned cloth.

Eternal Cowboy

Ceramic, underglaze, glaze, PE braid, canvas, leather, brass

2021

photos by Myles Pettengill

gallery photo by Loam

The cowboy is America’s ultimate protean figure. But what is the origin? The heyday? The legacy? One incarnation thrills crowds, dripping rhinestones and embroidery in the bright glow of stages and arenas. One rides the shaky monochrome reels of moving pictures. Certainly one worked in motley multicultural bands on the dusty cattle drives across western plains yet to be fenced, heading for distant railheads. One was a Spanish colonist tending herds and traversing new lands, equally unfamiliar to human and animal. And perhaps all the way across the sea, back when Arabian hooves first galloped across Iberian lands, there was a glimpse.

What we can say, certainly, is that cowboy style and identity persists, through all the vicissitudes of history. It exists at the intersection of tradition and new frontiers. We think we know it, but it can always surprise us. With a seemingly infinite power of reinvention, the American cowboy embodies every time, always changing and always the same. Cowboy never dies.

Waistcoat of Earthly Delights

Ceramic, underglaze, wool, poly satin, PE braid, wire

2021

photos by Loam

Nature is the original source of all human design, and certainly in clothing nature motifs have been prevalent through much of history. During the mid-19th century in Europe, a time when male fashion was becoming less ornate, the waistcoat was often a last bastion of elaborate fancy, vivid color, decoration and individuality. Amidst throngs in plain muted colors, a brilliant few inches peeking out between coat edges was an acceptable lapse in masculine solemnity. Here, kept close to the chest, gardens of floral designs burst forth in embroidery and brocade.

Despite these trends, nature motifs in a modernizing culture rarely held much specificity and particular significance. Cloth was shipped long distances, designs copied freely from various sourcebooks, nature removed several degrees, abstracted and glossed with an unconcerned sheen of civilization. If an Englishman wore a waistcoat embroidered with a certain type of flower, it is unlikely that he chose it for this reason or thought much about where it was from or what it meant, beyond aesthetic pleasure.

Superficial sensory pleasure is often what has been meant by phrases like “earthly delights.” This has been seen as a negative opposite to the spiritual. In my waistcoat, I instead propose a dichotomy between a specific homage to nature and a vague reference. Here, the snakes are Eastern Cottonmouths, surrounded by the native flora of their Southeastern habitat. It is a waistcoat for one who observes and feels connected to the natural inhabitants of a particular place, true earthly delights.

A Swimsuit To Wear While Looking For Hellbenders

Ceramic, wool, PE braid

2020

studio photos by Loam, outdoor photos by Myles Pettengill

The hellbender: a creature of legendary proportions and near-mythic status. Splashing through Kentucky streams in childhood, it was my white whale, my holy grail: always sought, never found. Moving to the Blue Ridge Mountains as an adult, I finally met this grandfather salamander face-to-face. Wading and snorkeling in the cold mountain rivers, not yet ruined by runoff and sedimentation, I entered the hellbender’s world to observe its secret life.

I made this swimsuit to help me in my quest. Taking cues from the garments of the past, it is lined with knit wool, which insulates even when wet. Starting with a white porcelain, I pressed each tile in my fingers, gradually blending in more and more of a nearly black stoneware clay. Light fading below water, stones tumbling smooth in swift currents, I thought of the river and felt amphibian auspices as I worked.

When I slide the suit onto my body I feel an immediate change. The soft rustle of the tiles, the weight hugging me closely, I feel pulled toward the water. The hellbenders are patient, as they always have been. They walk the stones, draw oxygen through skin folds, feel the light, smell the water. They wait for me.

Shorts To Wear While Looking For Pythons

Ceramic, underglaze, glaze, PE fiber, cotton, leather, brass

2019

photos by Hannah Patterson

I began making these ceramic shorts while working in Bali, Indonesia. I was spending a lot of time going into the fields and jungles, day and night, searching for the many snakes that inhabit the island. I wanted to make a garment to wear, both functional and symbolic, to bring luck and power while looking for pythons. Like the Mande hunters’ shirts of Mali, adorned with amulets, animal parts, mirrors, and pouches to show mastery of and protection from the physical and spiritual forces of the jungle, I would create my shorts to help me in my quest.

Each tile is handmade from a porcelain blend and high-fired for strength. The glazed colors and pattern arrangement of the scale-like tiles reference the reticulated python, my chosen quarry, one of the largest and most beautiful snakes of Indonesia. The shorts, while seemingly impractical, are immensely comfortable. When donned they impart a feeling of transformation– the weight and slight clinking sound making every movement feel intentional and focused. As I walk through the forest I feel a heightened sense of purpose leading me on in my search. Searching for pythons.