OM.2024.105 - Kelly C. Berwager - USA
Artist Statement
In conjunction with other collages I’ve created using old dress patterns, paper dolls, and
other sewing notions, Vanity Sizing revisits the concepts of body image and the change
in how women view themselves. Despite Americans getting larger over the past 50
years, clothing companies have instituted vanity sizing, shifting sizes to make
customers feel smaller than they actually are. If you look at the size chart on the
collage, a size 16 in 1957, the measurements were 36, 28, 38. Today, those
measurements are 42, 35, 45. A size 16 in 1957 equals a size eight today, but that also
depends on who you’re asking.
My grandmother was a hoarder, so when we cleaned out her house, I found a lot of
dress patterns and fabric. I noticed patterns of different sizes had the same images on
the front. It didn’t matter if you were a size 8 or 16; you saw the same image to
reference your appearance if you used the pattern.
I wanted to be a fashion designer in my younger years, but that dream never happened.
I worked in clothing retail stores and for a fashion jewelry company, so I kept the love of
fashion in the forefront until I needed a better salary and benefits. I earned my art
education degree and a Ph.D. to teach art at the collegiate level, and I have taught for
28 years. My love of fashion never waivered, so when I finally found my way back to
creating artwork, I incorporated fashion images into my paintings. My memories of my
mom and grandmother using those tissue paper patterns to make outfits for my sister
and myself led me to use paper patterns—cover images and tissue paper—in my
smaller collages.
Artist Bio
I grew up in north Alabama where I received an art scholarship to a junior college but
chose to study Business Administration at Birmingham-Southern College. I continued
taking art classes throughout college but didn’t think I could make it as an artist and
teaching was never an option.
Ten years after receiving my degree in business, I started my family and returned to
school for a Master’s degree in Art Education (never say “never”). My media of choice at
the time was large oil paintings of odd still-life objects seen from my two-year-old son’s
point of view.
I then received a MA.E. degree in 1996 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham
and taught PK-12 visual art classes for 17 years in the Birmingham/Homewood area. I
received a Ph.D. in 2013 in Educational Research from The University of Alabama with
a desire to teach at the collegiate level. I began teaching Visual Arts and Arts Education
classes at Troy University in 2013 and am still there at least for a few more years.
After a health scare in mid-2021, I needed something to help me de-stress so I went
back to my first love painting. I found my “center” again and it has made me a better
teacher by practicing what I preaches. My love for painting fabric led me to look for
images with lush fabrics and a sexy, retro-vibe. I’ve always been a shoe-oholic but now
that I’m older I can't wear the high heels of my younger days, so now I paint them. With
the shoes, I look for the design quality of high-end footwear, but also the elegance of
the occasion with which each heel could be worn.
I currently live & teach in Troy, Alabama with my husband, Tom, and our Chocolate Lab, Lab/Redbone Coonhound mix dogs, Sam and Max.
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