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Photographs by Dave Lepori Romantic Interlude: Yvette Hill's '16th Century Romance' is a feathery, crushed-velvety and just plain naughty bit of forbidden romance. Imagine the chorus in your head: 'Hand on a breast/ A heaving chest/ Sixteenth Century Romance.' Hill (second from left) will wear her outfit on her wedding day in October, when she will wed the hunk to the left. Through the Looking Glass A sneak preview of the Seventh Sense Fashion Show Nowhere are we closer to the sublime secret of all origination than in the recognition of our own selves, whom we always think we know already. Yet we know the immensities of space better than we know our own depths, where--even though we do not understand it--we can listen directly to the throb of creation itself. --Carl Jung It's one thing to know the deepest depths of our selves; it's something else to take what we find down there and express it out in the world. Few have the guts and ingenuity to try; those that do it successfully we call artists. Those that do it unsuccessfully we call nutjobs. Those that don't do it at all we call Republicans. But fie on political digressions, and back to expressions of our deepest selves--in caves and museums and in subways, humans have always adorned walls with expressions of self. But there's something uniquely powerful about adorning the human being with expressions of self that has the power to transform identity. Try wearing lederhosen and see if you don't feel the urge to put your arm around your neighbor and kick your feet in the air. Clothing is, in a fashionable sense, one of the most visceral metaphors of identity, but not even at the fashion shows in Paris and New York can you see the freedom of expression granted to artists at the Seventh Sense fashion show, where the wearable art need not be practical at all; it's meant to be seen and enjoyed, and in that spirit, Metro Santa Cruz presents a sneak preview of a few of this season's gems. The Seventh Sense Fashion Show will be performed on Oct. 16, 17, 23 and 24 at 8pm at Motion Pacific, 408 Front St. Tickets are $15, available at Chocolate, 1522 Pacific Ave. Call 831.454.9547 or visit www.sosaywe.com for more info. A Portrait of the Artist 'Neath the Wirework: In Bridget Henry's first piece, 'Shelter,' elaborate wirework umbrellas are the costume. Says Henry, 'The umbrellas are the shelter they've designed to protect themselves from being a crowd, and being in the elements, whatever they may be.' C.G. Jung would be proud of her emphasis on the shadows cast by the protective umbrellas. Soaking Wet: In Henry's second piece, 'Singing in the Rain,' Aimee Page surrenders to the rain as her umbrella, made of folded screen and beads and crafted to look like streams of water, becomes the element it was designed to repel. Clowning Around: Jean Karki's 'Babe' clown character makes her third appearance in the show; this one titled 'Babe's Looking Up,' in which Babe is dressed in brightly colored, hand-painted fabric with a gigantic collar, over which she tries, nearly unsuccessfully, to peer at the audience. Welcome to the Dollhouse: Miranda Janeschild's 'Dolls in the Air' uses wirework to suspend the dolls in the air like puppets. 'I take my fascination for images of cocoons or bodies being wrapped and having them emerge out as a new beginning,' says Janeschild (front, right), referring to the dramatic unwrapping of two of the dolls. Their unsettling aspect comes from a different point of departure: 'My interest is taking the classic young girl doll,' she says, 'who is romantic and loves flowers and falls in love with romance, and kind of changing that and saying "fuck" to romance, eat the flowers instead, chew on the thorns and look at love in a different way.' [ Santa Cruz | Metroactive Central | Archives ]