When I first met Dawn Elliott and toured her home several years ago I was struck by how her entire property, inside and out, is filled with Latin folk art. Every corner holds lovely crosses, hearts, madonnas and pots, thoughtfully placed, like altarpieces. It was fun to see it again when I stopped by to talk with her for his profile.
She met me at the door with the wide-eyed look of someone just coming down from the high of having a big show days before. Dawn is a member of the artists’ studio collective The Art Hive, and was one of the four designers featured in a fashion show there on September 7. This show came on the heels of a July Hive show in which Dawn’s work was showcased with that of other members. So she’s been a busy bee getting these shows done, and has been enjoying a little much-deserved rest.
A great aspect of having a show is that you have a date by which you have to have a body of work ready to go public. While the deadline can add stress, it pushes you to get stuff done, to work those creative muscles and hopefully feel good with the results. The fashion show was a big push for Dawn, and she came up with some great pieces. There is already talk of more fashion events in the coming year.
Petite and perky, Dawn Reeves Elliott has lived in Arizona since childhood. From Tucson, her family would visit Mexico frequently, where she no doubt first fell for the colorful folk art. She moved to Prescott in the late ‘80s, taught at Miller Valley School for 25 years, and along the way began actively collecting folk art on trips to Mexico. Dawn made many personal connections there, and was invited to participate in colorful traditional celebrations like Dia de los Muertos, holy week and the fiesta of San Miguel Archangel.
The costumes and enormous, colorful figures carried along in the parades (or burned in effigy) she found astounding. She’d go with two empty suitcases and lug them back full of mostly pretty heavy stuff she scored at swap meets. So began her playing with combining objects to create new art.
Her AlterEgoMexicana metal pieces are playful, colorful and very clearly inspired by her frequent visits to Mexico, including many festivals. “The traditions are so alive. That’s what turned me on to Mexico even more, and so my art is definitely influenced by Mexican folk art.” Dawn combines metal flowers, crowns, birds, hearts, madonnas and crosses to make beautiful altars. “The iconography just grabs you.” Her home studio is a wooden shed with room for one person, shelves filled with carefully organized bins of all the things she’s gathered, a box full of madonna statuettes, a bowl full of bleeding hearts. “Can you tell I’m a collector?”
As happens for many artists, other creative pursuits have pulled at Dawn over the years, including silver, mosaic and batik. Her clothing design came out of the metal collecting. She buys used denim jackets and embellishes them, often with a scrap of fabric from Central America she’s found at some market or thrift store. Sometimes she uses mola fabric from Panama, or densely woven huipil fabric from Mexico. For the fashion show she added antique lace to dresses. She’s found loads of garments, many of them vintage, at thrift stores and swap meets that call out to her to be jazzed up with appliqué and just the right buttons. Since ironing has become so unpopular it’s easy to find old table linens in thrift stores, treasures for the crafter.
When the Art Hive opened it occurred to Dawn that it might make sense to have a separate studio for her sewing work, so she rents Studio #7 there and is glad to have a dedicated space for her fabrics and garments.
She describes herself as an “extroverted introvert.” While she needs a lot of alone time to think and create and refresh, she also very much enjoys interacting with the other artists bustling around the Hive, and especially loves the variety of shows put on there.
You can find Dawn’s AlterEgoMexicana metal art, Stitchery Doo Dah jackets and other unique and vintage items at The Art Hive on North Cortez St. during the Fourth Friday Art Walk, at The Marketplace, also on North Cortez, or at The Local restaurant on Sheldon Street. Visit Dawn’s website at AlterEgoMexicana.com.
