When you think of rubber in terms of dress, your first thought will almost certainly be of skin-tight fetish outfits involving bondage or submission, but not all rubber outfits fit into those categories, and indeed those dreamed up by this Japanese girl ould at first glance have far to more to do with celebrations than things to wear. Just because the gaily colored rubber balloons seen at parties and music events have fairly short lives does not mean they cannot be put to imaginative uses.
Taking seemingly innocent decoration accessoies to new heights is what balloon artist Rie Hosokai has learned to do by letting her imagination roam free. This impetus was obtained from breaking awayfrom the flower shop she had been working for as a decorator, to start her own business in 2002. Since then she has competed in, won and demonstrated techniques at numerous balloon competitions in her native Japan and throughout the world.
In 2006 she won the first ever balloon dress competition, defended her title in 2007 and went on to produce the balloon dress fashion show in Bangkok, Thailand in 2008. It isn’t just her dresses that are works of art, Hosokai also specializes in balloon flowers and other decorative objects that defy the basic ideas of what the combination of rubber and helium were originally designed to perform.
Her ideas are hardly meant to produce garments that can be hung in wardrobes, but rather things that make both funny and outrageous statements to anyone who sees a pretty girl wearing one of these stunning outfits. It is the very transience of the finished artwork that makes it so appealing. Knowing that you could only ever own one for a very short time makes it somehow far more exciting and interesting to do so.
It is impossible to say how long the public appetite for such quirky forms of artistic expression might last, but those artists bold enough to try making brave statements with the temporary luacy of thier creations usually find loyal groups of fans baying to find out what thier irreverent artistic hero/heroine might come up with next. Daisy Balloon strikes a chord with all of those who like thier art experiences to be fleeting but memorable. Her dress designs are delightful and even sexy in a strange way, promising much while showing nothing.
There are many art critics around who would dismiss this talented Japanese girl’s efforts as flimsy and lacking in substance, but the ephemeral nature of her superb creations is surely the whole raison d’etre for thier existence. They are not meant to last, but to leave a lasting impression, and in that ambition they succeed extremely well indeed.
Daisy Balloon as an artist is by no means as full of hot air as the stunning outfits she puts together. Her work grows in confidence and meaning year on year, and you can be sure we’ll be seeing much more from her in what promises to be an exciting future.
