Vintage dress paintings by Liz Tran evoke nostalgia, memories

Every time I happened onto a collection of Liz Tran's "Dress" paintings I was enchanted. In them, '30s and '40s era dresses float from old-fashioned wire hangers. They have sweet details like buttons, ties, bows, pin tucks, lace, wide collars and more often than not, polka dots. Rather than seem lifeless they are full of life, and each one has its own personality. Some seem demure, plaintive, playful or like they're ready to go to a garden party or on a picnic. The images of feminine dresses provoke nostalgia and sweet memories. Who wouldn't want to take one of these sweet little paintings home?

Tran admits to having a love of vintage dresses. She's collected them since she was 13, finding pristine frocks for just a few dollars at St. Vincent de Paul in Eugene, Ore. "I felt like I was stealing them. They were so beautiful and so much work went into them." Her obsession with these dresses became the inspiration behind her art. In each one-of-a-kind dress picture, Tran uses acrylic ink, paint, graphite, pen and beeswax on panel covered with layers of thin Japanese paper.

Originally, Tran painted dresses from her own collection, but now she conjures up imaginary frocks. She's even painted dresses she wanted but couldn't afford, like a red strapless taffeta number with giant white polka dots. "After I sold the painting, I bought the dress," says a victorious Tran.

LIZ TRAN

Oddly enough, Tran's first paintings of pretty dresses were sold out of revamped cigarette machines. "They began as an art project for Art-o-mat," says Tran. Art-o-mat is an arts organization that takes defunct cigarette vending machines and converts them to vend art for $5. These art vending machines are placed in various locations around the country including coffee houses, colleges and museums. It's a brilliant program making art accessible, affordable and fun to collect. Tran used recycled blocks of wood the size of cigarette packs and painted dresses onto them. The Art-o-mat machine at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City dispensed her tiny works of art to savvy collectors. Since then, the popularity, size and price has increased. Now Tran's dress paintings sell from around $100 for a 2-by-3-inch piece to up to $700 for a piece that's 16-by-16 inches.

Tran's art work is currently available at Maison Luxe, Gallery 110 and by appointment at her studio. The daughter and former employee of a boat builder also paints whimsical boats and buildings. For more information visit www.liztran.com.

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