Gaza Bowen; artist & shoemaker
Hyfler/Rosner
The San Francisco Chronicle
JUNE 11, 2005, SATURDAY, FINAL EDITION
BYLINE: Kelly Hill
Gaza Bowen, an artist, shoemaker and teacher, died of cancer
at her Santa Cruz home on May 27. She was 61.
Mrs. Bowen, who hand made shoes in her studio, taught a
series of workshops, classes and lectures on footwear --
their construction, its history and what footwear could say
about society and cultural roles.
When her husband, Dennis Wheeler, met her 29 years ago, Mrs.
Bowen gave him a small book filled with shoe terminology.
"She said that I needed to study that if I was going to have
a steady relationship with her, and she quizzed me on it the
next day," Mr. Wheeler recalled.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she made functional shoes
that sported vibrant colors and unusual patterns. Then she
explored shoes as sculptures. Her work has been featured in
museums from Berkeley to Los Angeles to Germany. Perhaps her
best-known series, "Shoes for the Little Woman," was a group
of shoe sculptures created mostly from cleaning supplies:
elaborate high heels constructed from kitchen sponges or
wooden clothespins, sometimes decorated with pot scrubbers.
She acknowledged that her art had both humor and irony, but
Mrs. Bowen took exception to her shoes being categorized as
"whimsical."
"I know that it's humorous, but I think that the humor is
either masking -- or making -- the statement palatable," she
said in a 1997 interview in The Chronicle. "There's more to
them for the person that cares to look. In that humor, I'm
trying to make a statement about women and fashion, and
women and household cleaning, and women as sex symbols."
In recent years, Mrs. Bowen's interest turned to salvaged
materials. She and her husband would visit local dumps in
their Subaru station wagon and return with anything that
caught her eye, from a 55-gallon drum of buttons to a metal
above-ground pool frame. This inspired works such as
Bibliotheca Memoria, a life-size reading room with books and
furniture built entirely from detritus.
When she was 48, Mrs. Bowen took up the Japanese martial art
of Aikido and had earned a second-degree black belt by the
time of her death. In the past two years, while struggling
with her illness, she took an 18-day boating trip through
the Grand Canyon, snorkeled on Australia's Great Barrier
Reef and began to delve into a new art medium: woodblock and
linoleum prints. She spent much of her time this spring
enjoying the couple's garden, her husband recalled, in a
gazebo constructed from a 12-foot satellite dish, covered
with kiwi vines.
Mrs. Bowen is also survived by her son, David Bowen of Santa
Cruz; her sister, Michelle Press of Connecticut; and many
friends.
A memorial service for Mrs. Bowen will be held at 2 p.m. on
June 25 at North Bay Aikido in Santa Cruz. Her family
encourages donations in her name to the Women's Empowerment
Network, 309 Center Street #547, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, to
support a women's clinic in Mulukuku, Nicaragua.
Hyfler/Rosner
> Gaza Bowen, an artist, shoemaker and teacher, died of
> cancer at her Santa Cruz home on May 27. She was 61.
Very interesting artist:
http://www.gazabowen.com/gallery_bm.htm
The shoes are beautiful:
http://www.gazabowen.com/gallery_shoes.htm
Hoodoo
> BYLINE: Kelly Hill
>
> Gaza Bowen, an artist, shoemaker and teacher, died of cancer
> at her Santa Cruz home on May 27. She was 61.
>
> Mrs. Bowen, who hand made shoes in her studio, taught a
> series of workshops, classes and lectures on footwear --
> their construction, its history and what footwear could say
> about society and cultural roles.
>
> When her husband, Dennis Wheeler, met her 29 years ago, Mrs.
> Bowen gave him a small book filled with shoe terminology.
>
> "She said that I needed to study that if I was going to have
> a steady relationship with her, and she quizzed me on it the
> next day," Mr. Wheeler recalled.
Kelly Hill should have read the same terminology book for
utilization of the word 'cobbler' to refer to Ms. Bowen. Not that
"shoemaker" is incorrect, but, using the word cobbler might
broaden the intelligence of young readers.
--
It's a big old goofy world. - John Prine
Bob Feigel
Unless, of course, you think that's a load of old cobblers ...
Seriously, when I first arrived in New Zealand (1974) one of the top
categories for people applying for residency was cobblers and another
was greenkeepers. I don't think that's the case now. b
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hoodoo
> Seriously, when I first arrived in New Zealand (1974) one of the top
> categories for people applying for residency was cobblers and another
> was greenkeepers. I don't think that's the case now. b
About a decade ago a friend and I were considering whether to
move there to become fish farmers. I wonder what that would have
been like.
Bob Feigel
>Bob Feigel wrote:
>> Seriously, when I first arrived in New Zealand (1974) one of the top
>> categories for people applying for residency was cobblers and another
>> was greenkeepers. I don't think that's the case now. b
>
>About a decade ago a friend and I were considering whether to
>move there to become fish farmers. I wonder what that would have
>been like.
With Asia as a major export market? I would have asked you to adopt
me! b
Hoodoo
>>>Seriously, when I first arrived in New Zealand (1974) one of the top
>>>categories for people applying for residency was cobblers and another
>>>was greenkeepers. I don't think that's the case now. b
>>About a decade ago a friend and I were considering whether to
>>move there to become fish farmers. I wonder what that would have
>>been like.
> With Asia as a major export market? I would have asked you to adopt
> me! b
At least we didn't have sheep in mind. :)
Bob Feigel
I couldn't possibly comment ... ;-)b