Tea Petrovic: When shoes become art

Our concept of style is heavily burdened with the prerequisite norm to change it whenever possible. After all, it’s a good thing to do. If we don’t, then we are going to be looked at with abomination. Why risk it when we all know that diversity brings more zing to life!

Nowhere is it more evident than in the highly extraordinary shoes designed by Tea Petrovic, a rising star from Sarajevo in the world of artistic design. She is showing us how shoes can be twisted in delectable forms to look at them through the eyes of an artist.

In an exclusive interview with Arab News, she sheds light on what triggered her interest in shoes and much more.

Her love for shoes became apparent only after she moved to college. It was an opportunity for her to find something innovative to do. “I fell in love with shoes during my college days, when I redesigned an old pair for a project at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo. I really enjoyed designing and making them. They looked really unusual, some kind of flip flop/boots, and I wore them for a couple of years only,” she says. Interestingly, she still has them in her closet, although they aren’t for walking anymore. What happened afterward was a turning point for her as she explains, “After this experience I only wanted to explore the countless possibilities by creating these desirable objects. High-heeled shoes are pieces of art and have always been my eternal inspiration.”

She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts as product designer. Strangely, she didn’t have to go to any specialized school to learn the craft of shoe design. Her passion for it was enough.

The shoe designs stand out because there is an intricately artistic touch embedded in them. As she explains, “Shoe as a sculpture, as a constructed architectural form is a base concept behind my ‘Extended Ego’ collection. These shoes have a certain recognizable aesthetic, a new concept of high heels, and a certain appeal which triggers a positive response in the observer’s eye.”

Morphology of these shoes, especially the heels, is purely unexpected, unique and dynamic, constructed by the principle of rotation and multiplication of basic geometric forms. Influence of architecture is present in the collection, and it’s especially obvious in symmetry, balance, construction, details, repetition, and proportion as well as mass-to-size ratio. “Being white and ornament free, these shoes are focused on the very form which is by and large their only decorative element. Every model in the collection represents the concept of experimenting with the high heel. Shapes are very clean and elegant, powerful and feminine at the same time,” says Petrovic.

While her collection is monochrome, she does think color plays a huge role. “Color is always important in my opinion. The lack of it in my designs is a statement. It emphasizes the very form to make the shoes look like sculptures,” she said.

Defining one’s work isn’t an easy phenomenon as one likes to believe. It’s much more complicated. No worries for Petrovic! She knows how to take it in her stride with confidence. “My work has a dose of artistic approach and sensibility. The organic and geometric silhouettes that I have put in certainly require new technological techniques in order to be made as wearable shoes, but they were conceived as a piece of art,” she says.

Even then, there are still many takers of her valued creations who truly see them as some kind of stunning artwork. “They are aimed at all art lovers, people who indulge themselves in appreciating the beauty of details, the power of clean, natural forms which at their core are simple. Shapes of the shoes are distinctive, very specific, and they exude a vibe of a new form as I have been told,” she says.

Her shoes have traveled through Europe, Asia and the US as part of numerous exhibitions. And out of all these places, the favorite ones where her designs really made waves and which she fondly loves to cherish in her heart are Brooklyn Museum in New York, Museum at FIT in New York, Kunsthaus Wien Museum Hundertwasserhaus in Austria, Saarlandischen Künstlerhaus in Germany, Museum Villa Rot in Germany, Grassi Museum in Germany, Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, Collegium Artisticum in Sarajevo, a couple of exhibitions in Dubai malls, Shanghai expo in China, some exhibitions around her home country, and so on.

She couldn’t have asked for more when people started to behold her shoes with so much interest. “Visitors are usually charmed by the appearance of the shoes, almost like hypnotized. They make a strong impact on the viewer, and they evoke people’s urge to touch them, which isn’t usually allowed. I feel very touched by it,” recollects Petrovic.

On the whole, she crafted the shoes by herself using plastic sheets. Hand-making and modeling emphasizes their artistic value, since they were all made as artistic forms, prototypes of a shoe which, in the future, could be adjusted to possible production, but for now, they are just unique sculptures made not for fashion trends, but to represent a shoe as a form, rich in freedom and artistic expression.

Inspiration behind the collection

It came from studying art almost her whole adult life. Before attending the Academy she went to the High School of Applied Arts, so art was her daily routine. “The collection is inspired by sculptures of Naum Gabo and the architecture of Santiago Calatrava. A fusion of these two artists combined with organic shapes is what made my idea come to life,” she says.

How it all works out for her is a strict procedure. First the inspiration strikes, then she does a lot of sketches, studies and at the end of this phase she ends up with a couple of detailed drawings. Then she starts building a model, a couple of them, until she achieves the form she is satisfied with. “Design slightly changes during this process, and it is absolutely necessary,” she admits.

She has no liking for being called a fashion designer. This is because her work doesn’t even come close to the mainstream fashion world. “I am just a curious designer who has affection for shoes. Mine is not a mainstream shoe collection, therefore I don’t see it fitting into the mainstream world of fashion, however, haute couture has always been my minion,” she considers.

Celebrities’ craving for her shoes

Because the shoes were never produced in wearable version, nobody had a chance to walk in them which she finds very unfortunate. She never found somebody who would produce her shoes, but she is still looking. In general, there were a lot of inquirers from different people including some celebrities.

Not ready to give up, she does have some plans. “I need to find some sort of an enthusiastic producer, or a shoemaker, who could make my designs a reality. That would be the beginning of a magical journey of new age, breathtaking shoes,” she said.

EndFragment

Original Article